


Yggdrasil: A Brave New World

by ZoisiteMoon



Series: The Gemstone Saga [9]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Camp Nanowrimo, Gemstone Saga, Grand Finale, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-04-16 04:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14156397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoisiteMoon/pseuds/ZoisiteMoon
Summary: The tree known as Yggdrasil is dying, and it's up to Steven Universe and co. to save it. Will they succeed?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been three years in the making. I first came up with the story for this back in 2014 and had expected to start working on it that year, but then I was occupied with other projects and life stuff (like having to deal with the fallout of getting banned from deviantART and getting into a new relationship just over a year after the last one failed) and so I had to delay it for quite some time.
> 
> Well, anyway, I plan to work on part of this for Camp NaNoWriMo. Keep an eye out for new chapters!

Somewhere out in the Nambulite desert, there existed a tree called Yggdrasil. It was the only one that could be seen for miles on end, and it was in fact the very tree from which Amber, the supreme Goddess of all creation, was born and the world of Mineralis came to be. It therefore warranted protection from a select group of life-forms specifically chosen to guard it for the rest of their lives.

The first one of these sacred guardians was Bridgmanite, one of the most beautiful and ancient Gems to ever exist. As the descendant of a primodial Gem race, she was especially relevant to the history of Gemkind. Not only did she help make peace with the mineral snail-like Yilgarn-Didyma, gaseous Vaporae, amphibious Xenophi, and scaly Opisthias; she also led the way for modern civilization by utilizing her knowledge of the subterranean world to help them thrive. Her skin was the color of umber, her eyes the color of burnt sienna, and her hair pitch black. Her gem was located on her stomach, exactly where a navel would be, and it gave her the ability to manipulate the earth as she saw fit.

The second guardian of Yggdrasil, Ulexite, was also a Gem. In her case, however, her lineage was a lot more recent and not as significant as Bridgmanite's. Her skin was a silky white and her eyes were a striking grayish color. Her hair was translucent, though, and so was the gem on her forehead. The gem itself could be readily used as a mirror if she wished.

The third guardian was an Opisthia named Rhyncho Searles Trona (or Rhyncho for short). As his full name would suggest, a clan of Trona used to own him as a slave for agricultural work before eventually manumitting him after half a Mineralis year, which was to say fifty Earth years. He towered mightily over Bridgmanite (who was 5'5") and Ulexite (who was 5'1") at 7'9" and always stood upright. He had the head of a tuatara, a spiny crest on his back, a narrow abdomen, a tail as wide as a cedar log that tapered at the end, and dull greenish-brown scales all throughout his body.

The fourth guardian was a Yilgarn-Didyma named Kalgoorlie. According to many an oral legend, he was the first alpha male of his species and therefore the Adam of his kind. In height, he was 6'7", 7'1" in length and a monstrous 9'2" in width. His shell was conical and beautifully iridescent, his eyestalks (which were considered by many to be his most attractive assets) were as thick as regular wooden pencils found in the human workplace, and his body had a sort of peach hue which was only magnified by the slimy sheen he constantly produced.

The fifth guardian was a Vapora named Lockyer, who hailed from the Helium race. She gave off a bright yellow glow that tended to peak whenever she felt utter joy for something or someone. Her "body" shape was practically nonexistent, taking the form of something like a twig rather than an actual figure. She was 5'1" in height, mightily smaller when compared to Bridgmanite and about the same height as Ulexite, but chose to compensate for her tiny size by floating at all times.

The final guardians were two Xenophi, Bufo and Rana. Bufo was a hefty and muscular specimen with slimy fawn-colored skin while his companion Rana was much slimmer and more agile with periwinkle skin that constantly sparkled when she moved. They were both 6'2", not nearly as tall as Kalgoorlie or Rhyncho but still impressively tall.

Bridgmanite, alongside the others, was participating in the annual bonding ritual with the tree when she suddenly yelled out in pain and stumbled backwards to the ground.

"Is something wrong, Bridgmanite?" Kalgoorlie couldn't help but ask.

"There's a great disturbance here..." Bridgmanite announced.

"What do you mean?"

"It's been infected."

"Infected? With what, pray tell?"

"I can't tell, but whatever it is... if it kills Yggdrasil, it kills us all."

"Oh my..." Ulexite muttered softly. "We have to do something about this."

"But what can we do?" Kalgoorlie asked once more. "We're only mortal. It would take someone with as much power as the Gods to fix it."

All of a sudden, a figurative light bulb went off over Rhyncho's head. "I think I know who could help us," he said. "All we have to do is find him."

"One, who could that possibly be?" Kalgoorlie questioned the anthropomorphic lizard. "Two, you know we can't just leave this tree alone. It needs our protection."

"Right, which is why I want you to go get him. His name is Steven Universe and he's the chancellor of the Chalcopyrite Queendom."

"Wait a minute, you mean that Steven Universe? The one whose mother was able to defeat Zirconia without resorting to murder or violence of any kind?"

"Yes, that one! Now go! It's a matter of life or death!"

"Alright, alright! I'm going!" And with that, Kalgoorlie was slowly but surely on his way to seeking out Steven Universe.

Steven Universe was preparing to start his duties as chancellor of Chalcopyrite, writing to other nations and asking them for solutions to new problems for the time being, when he suddenly heard someone call his name.

"Steven!" he could hear the Queen Pearl call out to him.

"Yes, Your Divinity?" he called back.

"There's someone here who's come all this way to see you!"

"Well, who is it?"

"Well, why don't you come and see for yourself?"

Steven let out a heavy sigh. "Fine."

He got up from his desk and trudged out into the throne room where the Queens Pearl and Garnet were waiting for him. In between them was a life-form he'd never encountered before, at least not up close.

"P-Pearl?" Steven started to ask hesitantly. "G-Garnet? Who is this?"

"Steven..." Garnet began. "This is Kalgoorlie. He's a fellow Yilgarn-Didyma and one of the guardians of Yggdrasil."

"O-Okay, but what is he doing here?"

"I think it's best if we let him speak here."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Kalgoorlie said. He diverted his attention towards the Chancellor who stood before him. "Steven, the reason I came all this way from Yggdrasil was to tell you that..." He gulped and leaned in just a bit closer. "...the tree is dying."

Steven's eyes widened at what he'd just heard. "What?"

"Yggdrasil. It's dying."

"I'm sorry... did you just say Yggdrasil... is dying?"

"That's right." He sucked some air into his pneumostome and then puffed it out in a matter of seconds. "And you're our only hope."

"Really? But why me?"

Kalgoorlie sucked in some more air and puffed it out before speaking again. "It recently came to my attention- and by 'came to my attention,' I mean one of my fellow guardians told me -that your mother is Rose Quartz, the one Gem who was able to bring Zirconia's murderous rampage to a halt by showing her love and kindness instead of hatred and violence, the Gem who fought a war against four tyrants for freedom, the Gem whose father was once friends with another Chalcopyrite Chancellor Zoisite, may he rot for all eternity. She fell in love with a human back on Earth and then sacrificed herself so you, the bridge between humanity and Gemkind, could be born."

"So you've come all this way from Yggdrasil to tell me it's dying and that I'm the only one who can save it, correct?"

"Yes, right again!" Kalgoorlie's eyestalks stiffened in the air with pure and utter joy. "I'm so glad you understand. And it took me quite a bit of time to do this, too. I mean, only three Earth days? That's gotta be a new record." He giggled a bit while blushing all over his body, somewhat of an impossibility for snails on Earth but not for Yilgarn-Didyma in the Mineralis dimension. "Anyway, only Amber knows how much time is left until Yggdrasil dies and life as we know it is destroyed, so you'd better have come up with a strategy to save it before then. May the odds be ever in your favor."

And with that, he proceeded to slowly and painstakingly turn himself around and make his exit. Now Steven was just staring out into the void, shell-shocked by what he'd been told.

"Steven?" Pearl asked him out of concern. "Are you alright?"

"Honestly, I don't know," her surrogate son answered uncertainly. "This is a lot to take in. I'm not sure I'd be up to the challenge."

"Oh, Steven, don't think like that. Of course you would. You're Steven Universe, the boy who's saved us and humanity a dozen times over. I know this may seem like a hefty task for you, but if you could put an end to Zoisite's murderous rampage on Earth, then you could figure out a way to save Yggdrasil and thus all of Mineralis. Right?"

"Well, if you believe I can, I will. Thanks, Pearl. I won't let you down. Alright, now why don't we get to work on that strategy? You were always good at those things."

"Good idea. Maybe I can ask Garnet to help, too."

"Yeah, she could help us see which strategy would work and which one would fail. Let's go!"

And with that, they set off into the meeting room where the Chalcopyrite Parliament would surely be waiting so they could get to work on a plan that could save Mineralis.


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived in the meeting room, the Chalcopyrite Parliament immediately stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at their bosses.

"Oh, Chancellor!" Kyanite perked up. "It's so good to see you and the Queens back here. Now what is it you wish to discuss?"

"Oh, haven't you heard?" Steven asked her. "Yggdrasil is dying."

All the color from Kyanite's face drained away as if it was hair dye going down the sink. "W-What?" she asked with a bit of a falter to her voice. "How?"

"Kalgoorlie didn't say. He just told me I'm the only one who can save it."

Kyanite leaned in just a bit closer. "Kalgoorlie?  _The_  Kalgoorlie? One of the guardians of the tree?"

"Yes,  _that_  Kalgoorlie. He came all this way down there to tell me himself."

"Did he tell you how he knew it was dying, though?"

"No. But I'm going to take his word for it since I highly doubt someone would go out of their way to joke about it."

Kyanite heaved out a sigh. "Alright, I believe you. Do you have any idea how you're going to save Yggdrasil?"

"Well, that's why the Queens and I had to come to you. We're sort of hoping you could give us some pointers on how to approach this."

Kyanite thought about this for a minute and then began. "Okay. First off, can you tell us why  _you_  were chosen to save Yggdrasil?"

"Kalgoorlie said he was told I needed to save Yggdrasil because my mother is Rose Quartz."

"Is that right? Well, it might be that they felt you could save it because of your healing powers. Think about it: you used your healing saliva to cure Connie's eyesight and her fertility, and if I remember correctly, you also used them to get rid of Her Divinity's, erm…" She gestured towards her crotch. "...downstairs problem."

Steven perked up. "Oh yeah, that's right. But my healing powers alone might not be able to fix it. This is the same tree that  _Amber_ , the Venerable Goddess herself, came out of. It could take a lot more power than that to fix this dimension."

"Hmm…" Kyanite tapped her lips a few times while she worked over a plan in her mind. "I know! What if we got several Rose Quartzes to come along and use their healing powers to save it?"

"I don't know… as much as I'd be honored to work with other Rose Quartzes, I'm not sure how much of them we'd need to do the job."

Chrysocolla sighed as a means of signalling to change the subject. "Alright, let's take a five-minute break."

"What, now?" Pearl whined. "But why when we're just getting started?"

"Well, obviously, we're getting nowhere so far. So maybe when we've gone over some more plans, we'll talk later."

Pearl sighed. "Fair enough."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, over in the Gems' Republic of Muscovite (or simply Muscovite for short), Priestess Gneiss was talking with Senators Quintinite and Gonnardite over what Chalcopyrite had been up to lately. It would seem that Gneiss had changed her opinion on the monarchy since Garnet and Pearl had taken over as Queens while the husband-and-wife duo begged to differ.

"Oh, come on, you know that's not true," Gneiss said while taken aback by Quintinite's lack of affirmation. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that the Queendom has actually been thriving rather well since Zoisite died. That Gem was such a slimy, disgusting creature; he would've only brought the whole nation down if he were still alive."

"Considering that you brought in Baryte when he asked for help in killing off a human's family, that's an odd statement coming fro ye," Quintinite retorted dryly. "Not that you could be of any help in destroying anything." He started laughing at his own retort.

"Oh, for the love of Amber, Quintinite," Gonnardite sighed while pinching the skin between her eyes. "Don't you think she's gone through enough grief as is? She's the High Priestess of Orthoclase and Hackmanite! Of course she's not going to use her powers for destruction."

"Thank you, Gonnardite," Gneiss said. "I appreciate that."

Just as they were about to resume their conversation, the Prime Minister Gaspéite rushed in from her office. The curvy apple green Gem had disheveled hair poking out from her intricately-crafted headdress and the sclera of her eyes were stained a grassy shade of green.

"Horrible news!" Gaspéite cried out in distress. "Yggdrasil is dying!"

Everybody else in the room gasped.

"Yggdrasil is dying?" Gneiss asked while stunned. "Oh dear Venerable Goddess, how did this happen?"

"I'm not sure," Gaspéite admitted. "I just know it's dying. We need to get in touch with Chalcopyrite and all our other close allies to figure out what needs to be done."

"Okay, but are you sure Yggdrasil is indeed dying?"

"Does this look unsure to you?" Gaspéite pointed towards her eyes, which were still horribly bloodshot with tints of green. "I thought so. Send out as many invites as you can for a gathering. We might not have much time left, so we must hurry."


	3. Chapter 3

Back on Earth, Hitomi couldn't help but notice that the rosebush in her backyard had suddenly withered and died, leaving behind only rotten brown stalks curled together and dropping black petals.

"B-But how?" Hitomi couldn't help but ask herself. "I'd just planted it a week ago…" She turned around to face the sliding glass patio doors. "Rebecca, can you come out here for a sec? You're not going to believe what just happened!"

Rebecca, one of Steven and Connie's adopted children, came out to see what the commotion was. "Sure, Hitomi, what's…" She trailed off when she saw the dead rosebush. "What happened to the roses?"

"I don't know. They seemed perfectly healthy yesterday."

"You think something might've been wrong with it?"

"Not with anything I'd know about."

"Why don't we go back inside and watch some TV? I'm sure that'll help you get your mind off things."

Hitomi nodded at this. "Sure, why not?"

And with that, they walked back inside.

* * *

Steven and the Queens were in the middle of another meeting with the Chalcopyrite Parliament when Muscovite Senator Violarite suddenly burst in and handed them all envelopes with their names on them.

"Senator Violarite?" Pearl asked, a little confused. "What are you doing here?"

"High Priestess Gneiss and Prime Minister Gaspéite wanted me to come to Chalcopyrite and invite you to an event at the President's mansion," Violarite said. "They say it's to discuss strategies regarding Yggdrasil."

"What kind?" Kyanite asked with a piqued curiosity. "Are any of them good?"

"Well, that's for them to know and for Garnet to find out." Violarite proceeded to take an empty seat between Garnet and Pearl. "So Steven, how have you been handling things lately?"

"Okay…" Steven spoke softly. "I'm still trying to process what Kalgoorlie said to me when he came here."

Violarite's eyes flew open wide. "Wait, wait, wait." She quickly stood up and almost knocked her chair backward. "Kalgoorlie was here? One of the guardians? What did he say? Tell me everything!"

"Well, he just said that I was the only one that could save it-"

"Really? What for?"

"My mother's Rose Quartz. I'm sure you've heard of her."

"Why, yes, of course I have!" She picked her chair up from the floor and sat back down. "One of my mothers used to tell me stories of her as a child. She gave me hope that conflicts could be solved not with hate and violence, but with love and patience. She's the one who inspired me to become a Senator in the first place, to help others during their time of need. You have every right to be proud of her, Steven. You're carrying on a legacy that is far greater than I even thought possible."

"T-Thank you. That really means a lot to me. Now when are we supposed to leave for Muscovite?"

"A few Earth days or however humans measure them."

"Sounds reasonable to me. Alright, guys, one Earth night from now, we start packing up for Muscovite."

"Alright!"


	4. Chapter 4

By the time they'd finally made it to President Fletcherite's mansion, Steven and the Queens were somewhat anxious to get in and socialize with the other political figures, as well as with High Priestess Gneiss. When they stepped through the entrance, everyone turned to look at them.

"Steven, Your Majesty, Your Divinity!" Gonnardite exclaimed. "I'm so glad you three could make it! We were just talking about you before you got here."

"Thank you, Senator Gonnardite," Pearl said. "My wife and I are honored that you invited us here to help work out a strategy."

"Of course, of course. Why don't we all come down to the board room where High Priestess Gneiss and the rest of the Senators are? I'm sure they'd love to hear what you have to say." She gestured the Chalcopyrite Queens and their Chancellor to follow her. "Come now, there's much to discuss with them."

They made their way to the board room and took their respective seats. Pearl and Garnet decided to sit next each other and between two other Senators while Steven sat down next to High Priestess Gneiss.

All of a sudden, Senator Digenite walked in and started speaking. "Greetings, fellow Senators and Queens and Chancellor. I'm so grateful you could all be here. I hope that if we all work together, we will be able to save Mineralis and ourselves. So…" She paused and pointed towards a random Senator. "Do you have any suggestions on what we should do to save Yggdrasil?"

Senator Bornite was squirming in her seat. "Erm… I could use my telekinetic powers to speak with the tree and ask what's wrong with it. Then once it tells me what I need to know, I'll… I'll… and that's all I really have. I never thought you'd pick me."

"Hmm…" Digenite scrunched her face up in concentration. "While I appreciate you taking a somewhat unique approach to this problem, I don't know if that would really work in Yggdrasil's case."

"Is it because Yggdrasil is the first organism in existence?"

"Well, that and it seems amateurish to just up and ask such an ancient entity what's wrong with it. How should it know?"

"Well, you got me there. It was worth a shot, though, right?"

"Yeah, it was. Alright, who's next?" Digenite covered her eyes and started hovering her extended finger around to point at her next target. "Senator Dolomite, would you like to share your ideas with us?"

"I…" Senator Dolomite's voice trailed off for a second. "I don't know. Do you think I should?"

"Of course I do! Just go ahead and tell us what's on your mind. Don't worry. We won't laugh at you."

"Well…" Dolomite paused and took a deep breath. "First of all, unlike Digenite, I don't think it would be much of a good idea to just ask the tree what's wrong with it. There are a lot of explanations for why it could've suddenly fallen ill, like a fungal infection, problems with parasites…"

While Dolomite trailed on and on with her thoughts on what she was certain could help Yggdrasil, Gneiss was stretching out her shoulders. As if on command, at one point, the lone strap on her cutout Zoisite silk dress slid down and the High Priestess gestured Steven to take notice. Instead of pulling it down further and trying to cop a feel like she wanted, though, he just pulled it right up almost as quickly as it had fallen down. To say that she was highly disappointed by this would've been an understatement for the ages.

"...so that concludes my plan to save Yggdrasil," Dolomite said. "Now does anyone have a question for me?"

"Yeah, I have a question," Senator Wolframite began. "So let me see if I've got this straight: do you really expect me to believe that you could just send in a virus to eat away at whatever is infecting Yggdrasil? What if that backfires and kills the tree even quicker than we may've anticipated?"

"Well then, we're all fucked now, aren't we?" Dolomite answered tersely. "Not that it would likely happen, but still…"

After the board room meeting was over with, Steven was on his way to joining Garnet and Pearl for lunch with the Senators when Gneiss suddenly caught up to him.

"Yes, Gneiss?" Steven asked as soon as he turned his head to face her.

"How could you embarrass me like that in front of the other Senators?" Gneiss hissed at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. My strap came down and you were supposed to make a move on me."

"Wh...what?" Steven was trying to comprehend what the hell she'd just said. "Why would I want to do that? I'm married and you're a High Priestess."

"So?"

"I'm not going to cheat on my wife just because someone tries to tempt me, and especially when that person has to uphold a chastity vow for the rest of their life."

Gneiss's eyes shrunk and she responded by bitch-slapping him across the face. "Suit yourself, you ungrateful jerk." She then huffed and stormed off without a second thought.

Immediately afterwards, Pearl came over to see what was going on. "Is everything okay, Steven?" she asked him out of concern. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really," he replied. "She just got upset because I told her off."

"Why did you tell her off?"

"She wanted me to make a move on her and I didn't. It was really weird. I don't remember her acting like this before."

"Well, the important thing is, you did what was right. Now come on. We need to eat with the Senators. I'd really like to know what they've been up to lately."

"Sure, Pearl. That actually sounds like a good idea."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Grossular Forums, Blue Topaz and his brother Green were discussing things that had recently come up in their lives. Blue, for example, was gushing about how much he loved his grandchildren and how adorable and smart they were; meanwhile, Green was conversing about how his marriage with Xenotime the Younger was and how much he still adored her. All of a sudden, Blue couldn't help but notice that his younger brother was starting to tear up a bit.

"Green?" Blue asked him. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No," Green simply replied.

"Okay, if you say so. It's just that I couldn't help but sense some sadness in your eyes."

Green heaved out a sigh. "Fine… Xenotime and I seem to be drifting and I'm afraid our marriage might be in trouble. To make matters worse, she's sick. Quite sick."

"Uh… okay. How sick are we talking here?"

"She's dying."

"Oh my… that bad, huh?"

"Yes. And I'm going to need your help in making sure she gets well again."

"Okay… what kind of help?"

"Magical help. I'm talking, 'cast some spells, perform a healing ritual' help."

"Sure thing, Green. Who exactly do you have in mind to perform a healing spell on Xenotime?"

"You know Kermesite, right?"

"Kermesite? You mean, the witch who'd been friends with Nephrite?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"Why would you want her to heal Xenotime?"

"I don't know, to be honest. She just happened to be the first witch I thought about and with her history with Nephrite, I figured she'd be willing to help out other Gems she was familiar, least of all us."

"Are you sure? She hasn't made contact with us in years."

"Pretty sure. Now what are we waiting for? Let's find her!"


	5. Chapter 5

After several Mineralis hours of trekking through the Iolite-Zincgartrellite border on foot and asking many other Gems on where to find the purple Gem witch, the Topaz brothers finally made it to their destination: Labradorite's Legacy. Once inside, they spotted her sitting at a booth with another fellow Gem witch, a rather beautiful deep blue Gem named Diaboleite. This Gem witch had a gem between her eyes that allowed her to use mind control on anyone she wanted and manipulate them to her desires.

"Excuse me... Kermesite?" Blue Topaz called out to the seasoned Gem witch. "My brother and I would like to ask you something."

This was enough to catch Kermesite off-guard and she turned to see him and his green-hued brother standing a couple feet away from her. "I'm sorry, who are you two?" she asked in befuddlement.

"Well, I'm Blue Topaz and the Gem besides me is my brother Green Topaz." He pointed towards his brother. "He kinda dragged me along to see if you could cure his wife of a terminal illness."

Kermesite and Diaboleite just stared at them, their mouths agape.

"Oh dear, I'm dreadfully sorry to hear about that," Kermesite said. "But why exactly did you have to seek me out for this? There are plenty of other Gem witches out there who could help you out, and I've been organizing my retirement for quite a while now."

"Oh…" Blue Topaz was struggling to organize his train of thought. "Well, Green was hoping that with your connections to the late former Chancellor Nephrite, may he rest in peace, you would be quite willing to help out my brother. He's the uncle of my daughter, the Queen Pearl, and his wife just so happens to be the daughter of another former Chancellor, Xenotime the Elder."

"My Goddess!" Diaboleite exclaimed now. "You two are blood relatives of the Queen Pearl? Why, we'd be delighted to help you out. I was hoping Miss Kermesite would let me help out with something anyway."

"Dia, no!" Kermesite shouted. "We talked about this. You're not ready to do spells yet."

"But Miss Kermesite!" She abruptly stood up and extended her hand at the Topaz brothers. "Green Topaz's wife is dying! This could be a great opportunity to show off what you've been teaching me so far."

"I said no, Dia. We have not gotten to doing spells at this point. And as for you, Blue and Green Topaz, I'd suggest finding another Gem witch to heal her because I will not be offering to perform rituals anymore."

Blue Topaz audibly gasped. "For the love of Amber, Miss Kermesite!" he exclaimed. "How can you be so heartless?"

"Yes, Miss Kermesite," Diaboleite chimed in. "How can you be so heartless? If you turn these Gems away, and right when they need help, you're going to regret it. Scratch that, we're going to regret it. For the rest of our lives."

Kermesite let out a heavy sigh and buried her face into her hands. "Fine. But only this and nothing more."

* * *

 

Gneiss started travelling back to the Temple of Orthoclase and Hackmanite upon her trusty ostrich, a hen named Atlantis Wolframite, while trying to suppress all the rage she could in her body. She couldn't hide it, however. Her right eye twitched ever so slightly the more she thought about Steven pulling her strap back up instead of down like she intended. Her breathing also hitched as she steadfastly gripped her legs to the sides of her ostrich and clutched the reins to the hen's beak.

"Steven and his damn standards…" she muttered while holding on to her rage-filled thoughts. "Can't I have a little fun every once in a while? Who does he think he is anyway, rejecting me the way he did?"

Atlantis simply ignored her rider. She couldn't have said anything to snap the High Priestess out of her bitter rant anyway, for she did not have the vocal ability to talk back to her.

"Well, no matter," she continued. "I'll just think of something to get his attention." She sat there in silence for a moment before an idea popped into her head. "I got it! Atlantis, what do you think of this? I'll infect the Yggdrasil tree with a virus that might be even deadlier than whatever is already infecting it, and then when he sees me saving the tree with magic that will eradicate both the sicknesses, he'll see how much I appreciate life and push his wife aside for me!"

Atlantis couldn't help but think this was the stupidest plan she'd ever heard from someone, let alone her rider. When the High Priestess and her ostrich had finally made it to their destination, Hauyne was the first Priestess to spot them.

"Hauyne!" Gneiss exclaimed as soon as her fellow Priestess came into view. "It's so good to see you!" She dismounted her ostrich and proceeded to give a hug. "So, things have been great since I left?"

Hauyne nodded.

"Well, I certainly do hope so," Gneiss said. "In fact, I was actually thinking about something on the way here. Would you like to hear about it?"

Hauyne nodded again, this time with more enthusiasm.

Gneiss beamed at this. "Good, I'm so glad!" She started heading towards the temple entrance. "Follow me. You will not believe what I'm about to tell you."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Meanwhile, at Kermesite's house in the nation of Arsenopyrite, Blue and Green Topaz sat side-by-side, anxiously waiting for Kermesite to come out of her room and tell them anything that could settle their minds. Minutes, hours passed by but still, nothing was happening. Finally, someone opened the door. It was not Kermesite, though, like they'd expected.

"Yes, Diaboleite?" Blue Topaz asked aloud. "What is it?"

"Is my wife alright?" Green Topaz asked out of severe worry.

"Well…" Diaboleite began to answer. "Yes and no. First of all, Xenotime is pretty much already practically dead. The only thing that's still keeping her alive is her gem, which surprisingly hasn't cracked at all. According to Miss Kermesite, when a Gem is that close to death, no ordinary healing spell will work on them."

"W-What?" Green Topaz asked while his voice faltered. "Is there anything you can do for her?"

"Well…" Diaboleite began again. "I might ask Miss Kermesite to let me perform a resurrection spell and see if that works. Otherwise, there's nothing we can do for your wife."

Green Topaz's voice croaked at this revelation. "I don't normally use names for Earth deities, but Jesus Christ… this is so bad…" He buried his face into his hands. "What am I going to do if this doesn't work? I don't want to have to live without her, my sweet precious Xenotime."

"Don't worry about it, Green," Blue tried to reassure his brother. "It'll work out, I promise. And if it doesn't… well, you'll find another partner to spend forever with. After all, you know what they say, 'There are plenty of stars in the sky.'"

"Where'd you hear that anyway?"

"Earth." He pulled out a flask of Yilgarn-Didyma nectar (his favorite alcoholic dimension in all of Mineralis) and started taking a swig. "Dear Goddess, the humans come up with some pretty crazy 'figures of speech', don't they?"

"Yeah, I guess they do. I bet they also handle death a lot better than I can. God, this sucks." Green sighed. "Kermesite and Diaboleite better make this work. Otherwise, I'm going to sue them to the netherworld and back."

"Hey!" Diaboleite yelled out. "I'm right here! Please don't sue me. I am but a young Gem who wants to learn how to do magic spells and get her witchcraft license."

"Oh, don't worry about Green," Blue assured her. "He's just kidding about the whole 'I'm going to sue you and Kermesite to the netherworld and back'. You're just doing the best that you can."

Diaboleite beamed at this. "Thanks, Blue Topaz. I really needed that boost today." She then turned around and gestured the Topaz brothers to come follow her. "Actually, that reminds me. I might ask Miss Kermesite if I can recite a resurrection spell myself. My foreign language have been a little rusty, I will admit, but I bet you I can pull this off. Follow me."

The Topaz brothers did as they were told. Once inside, they discovered Kermesite setting up her copper tub atop a stove that was built into the middle of her room. She seemed particularly calm while doing this, which was rather intriguing for the brothers.

"Oh, hello, boys," Kermesite said when she caught sight of the Topaz brothers. "Did you come in because you were wondering about Xenotime?"

"Yes," Blue replied. "Well, that and Diaboleite suggested that you two could perform a resurrection spell on her since a healing spell just wouldn't work on my sister-in-law."

"Hmm, did she?"

"Yes. Will you do it?"

Kermesite pursed her lips and thought about it for a moment. "I suppose we could try it, but I'm not entirely sure it would work. Still, I've performed resurrection spells before and those have always worked for me."

"So… you'll do it?"

"Yes, but only because Diaboleite insisted on it."

"Oh, thank the Goddess!" Green exclaimed. "You will not regret is, Kermesite. If this works, we will forever be indebted to you. I swear on it."

"Good," Kermesite said. "Now stay here while I gather everything that's necessary for the spell." She pranced out of her room to get what she needed.

While the Topaz brothers waited for Kermesite to return and get on with the spell, they decided to pass the time by discussing some more about how Pearl and her wife were handling the monarchy right about now. Just like when Blue had been gushing about his grandchildren and how fast they were growing right before his eyes, he was gushing about how intimate the two Chalcopyrite Queens were and how they were still going strong. Green, meanwhile, couldn't help but wonder how his niece and her wife could handle being Queens, being a married couple, and raising three children all at the same time. A few minutes went by before Kermesite came back with her supplies.

"Alright, boys," Kermesite said. "I've got everything I need to resurrect Xenotime. Now if Diaboleite will just come in and help me with this, we can get started." She turned around to face her door. "Dia! Will you come in for a second? I'm ready to perform the resurrection spell!"

"Coming, Miss Kermesite!" Diaboleite yelled back from the other side. "I just need to find the book you use for your spells."

A few seconds, Diaboleite came into the room with the book she'd been looking for.

"Ah, Dia," Kermesite said. "Thank you. Now we can get started..."

"Wait," Diaboleite interrupted her. "Miss Kermesite, if I may, can I read from the book?"

"Well, since you've been so insistent on helping me with this, sure. Just make sure you read the spell from the right page."

"Sure thing, Miss Kermesite. I won't let you down." With that, Diaboleite started skimming through the book, looking for the right resurrection spell that could save Xenotime's life. It didn't take long before she came across a spell that she was confident she could read aloud. "Miss Kermesite, I came across this spell that seems to be written in an archaic version of what we call Arsenopyritian but the humans call English."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't ancient Arsenopyritian just Old English?" Blue Topaz tried to ask before his brother elbowed him on the side.

"Shut up!" Green yelled at him through gritted teeth.

"Really?" Kermesite asked her assistant. "You said you could read ancient Arsenopyritian. Can you tell me what you think it says?"

"Sure, just give me a second." Diaboleite cleared her throat. "Hwilc canne… reordian sê hagorûn… spôwan nâteðæshwôn warian…"

"Okay… 'whoever speaks this spell need not beware'..."

Diaboleite continued on. "Swâðêahhwæðre ðe hagorûn wîtword forhwierfan sê dêað ferhð innan tîma 3 nafað ðrîstian."

All of a sudden, Xenotime's body started shifting into odd shapes and sizes.

"'For this spell will transform the dying soul into a creature not to dare'..." Kermesite stopped when she realized just what exactly Diaboleite had read aloud and turned to see Xenotime starting to morph into a creature that bore a resemblance to something not unlike the long-extinct Deinosuchus. "Oh my God! Dia, do you know what you just read?"

"What?"

"That was a spell written to transform Gems into certain monsters! You fucked up, Dia! You fucked up big time!"

"...oops."

When Xenotime's body had finished morphing into its giant reptilian form, it had grown so large that it managed to take out a huge chunk of Kermesite's house and practically demolish the whole room while she was at it.

"Oh dear Amber…" Green Topaz muttered. He got up to face his giant beast of a wife. "Xenotime? Xenotime, can you hear me?" He didn't get a response. "It's me, sweetie. Your husband. Blue and I brought you to Kermesite to save you. You remember me, don't you?"

Xenotime responded by knocking across what was left of Kermesite's room with her snout. She then hissed at him before stumbling off somewhere in the great unknown.

"Where is she going?!" Blue yelled out when he saw Xenotime going off the other way.

"I don't know," Kermesite replied while baffled herself. "But we have to go after her and stop her before she can cause any more damage."

* * *

For the past few hours, Gneiss trekked through the Nambulite desert on her ostrich, searching far and wide for Yggdrasil, the tree that she'd heard so much about, the fabled tree where Amber the Venerable Goddess had come from. She wanted to make sure she had gotten her plan straight when she got there; otherwise, there was no telling how and when she would get caught and the fallout that would ensue from damaging the tree of life even further.

As she inched further towards her final destination, she went over the plan in her head again and again. Just like she'd practiced before with other, smaller plants during her free time practicing botany, she would infect Yggdrasil with a virus that mainly affected ash trees like it; cure it with an antibiotic that would take care of the virus and the tree's original ailment, thus killing two birds with one stone; and then use her newfound status as a hero to win over Steven.

But to infect Yggdrasil in the first place, she'd have to find a way to get past the Guardians and infect the tree without them noticing. Now how was she supposed to do that? She'd figure it out when she got there.

Speaking out, she was finally able to make out the tree and its seven guardians circled around it in the distance.

"Well, there it is, girl," Gneiss announced to her hen. "We've found it: Yggdrasil."

The ostrich hen nodded as if in agreement with what her rider had said.

"Once I've infected this tree, Steven will have to pay attention to me. He'll come to me for advice and I'll suggest giving it an antibiotic, but not just any antibiotic, oh no. It will be a combination of antibiotics that have been used to kill off beetles, several species of parasitic fungi, nematodes, phytoplasmas, etc. When, when the other Gems greenlight this idea, I'll go back to Yggdrasil and give the antibiotic and assuming nothing has gone wrong at this point or will go wrong, Steven will see me for who I am: the greatest hero of all Gemkind and a Gem worthy of his love. That sounds like a great plan, don't you think, Atlantis?" She did not get a response, but decided to keep talking like she had. "I'm glad you think so, too. Now let's go. Steven's love awaits."

And with that, Gneiss and her hen were on their way to the tree. Just a few moments later, they'd made it. Gneiss dismounted and tried to sneak pas the Guardians when she suddenly came face to face with Kalgoorlie.

"I'm sorry, but who are you supposed to be?" Kalgoorlie couldn't help but ask the High Priestess.

"Oh, of course!" Gneiss exclaimed at this. "I am Acasta Gneiss, daughter of Henderson Gneiss and Augen Gneiss, High Priestess of the Temple of Orthoclase and Hackmanite, and former Senator of the Republic of Chlormayenite."

"Ah yes, now I remember! You're the High Priestess who made a fool of herself trying to help a genocidal former Chancellor murder a human family on Earth."

"How'd you know?"

"Bridgmanite says she knows about Zoisite and what he wanted to do with the squishy humans." He leaned his eyestalks into the High Priestess Gem's face and said, "Really, though, you ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"Zoisite practically coerced me to help him! It's beyond me how people can't remember that. I would've thought you of all people would be neutral about this sort of thing."

Kalgoorlie couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Alright, High Priestess, if you say so. But what are you doing here? I sincerely hope you're just here to observe."

Gneiss wasted no time in responding. "Yes, that's it. I was hoping to see what sort of solution I could offer to the other Priestesses to save it. Now do you mind? I need to look at it for a second."

"Go right ahead. Just don't touch anything. Even the slightest brush against it could get it closer to death."

Gneiss nodded her head yes and squeezed herself past Kalgoorlie and Rhyncho to get to the tree. Once she was certain that they weren't looking directly at her, she pulled out a vial of water contaminated with phytoplasma from her cleavage and poured the water into a crack that had just formed along the side of the tree. She had to be absolutely sure that nobody could hear her doing this or else her entire plan would fall apart. The first part of her plan was over with in just a few seconds and in just as much time, she ran away from the tree and mounted onto her ostrich and rode away.

"Huh?" Ulexite sounded when she caught sight of Gneiss riding away on her ostrich. "What's she doing?" She then turned back to look at the tree. "I can't believe she didn't seem interested in the tree."

"Well, it's not exactly a sight to behold right now," Kalgoorlie pointed out. "I'm sure if she saw it while it was healthy a while ago, she would've stayed for much longer."

But unbeknownst to them, the tree was about to be in a lot worse shape than before.

* * *

Steven and his colleagues were discussing what to do with a rampant infestation of tree-eating beetles around the entire vicinity of Chalcopyrite when he suddenly heard someone knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Steven called out.

"It's me, Capri," a voice responded.

Capri? What was she doing here in Mineralis? Wasn't she supposed to be with what remained of the Crystal Gems? Steven went over to open the door and sure enough, it was his daughter.

"Capri?" Steven asked, mystified that she was even here. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, Dad, it's me," she replied. "Did you miss me?"

"I sure did, sweetie. It's been way too long."

"It sure has. Listen, Dad, there's something wrong with Earth. Plants are just up and dying, there's torrential flooding in Japan and other parts of the world, animals are dropping like flies, and now there's this giant brown crocodile terrorizing Beach City!"

Steven was a bit confused by this. How could the Earth be declining so quickly around the same time as Yggdrasil? Could it be just a coincidence?

"Capri, what do you know right now?" Steven asked his oldest daughter.

"Well, not much," she replied. "But I think this might have to do with Yggdrasil dying."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like too much of a coincidence that what's going on on Earth is happening at the same time that Yggdrasil is dying. In fact, I would say that it's not a coincidence at all. It's almost like they're connected somehow."

"Connected?"

"Yeah, don't you remember?"

Steven's eyes creaked open wide at this. He then ran out of the room to alert Garnet and Pearl.


	7. Chapter 7

Back in the Nambulite desert, the Guardians were still doing their jobs looking after Yggdrasil, but Ulexite had other things on her mind. She couldn't help but wonder why Gneiss had suddenly decided to leave after looking at the tree for a mere few minutes. So she decided to look closely at the ash tree and see if there was anything Gneiss did to it that could've made it worse. She couldn't find any obvious signs of tampering at first, but then she looked closer into one of the cracks that had materialized on the tree and noticed something troubling. Deep inside, there were newly-forming sprouts of a witch's broom as well as some tissue that was darkening, surely a sign of necrosis. If she'd remembered correctly from what her father had taught her about Yggdrasil, it was that while Yggdrasil was a tree inside and out, it was a sentient, sapient being that had integrated into itself many souls of deceased Gems over the years.

"Excuse me, Kalgoorlie?" Ulexite piped up to the snail towering over her. "I think I know why Gneiss just ran off like she did."

Kalgoorlie's eyestalks perked up. "Oh?" he responded while turning his head to face her. "And why do you think that is?"

"Well, I looked into one of the cracks that had formed recently and I noticed that some of the tissue inside was turning black and that some witch's brooms were starting to sprout. I think Gneiss infected Yggdrasil with something, but what, I don't know."

The rest of the Guardians gasped.

"I don't believe it," Bridgmanite said while quite dumbfounded. "How could a High Priestess like Gneiss do such a thing and to the tree that created everything, no less?"

"I don't know," Lockyer responded. "But we simply cannot let her get away with this sort of injustice. We must send someone after her so she can face punishment for her crime against life itself."

"You mean, like a bounty hunter?" Rhyncho asked curiously.

"Yes, a bounty hunter," Lockyer answered him. "That's exactly what I meant."

"But who can we find right now to bring Gneiss to us so we can hand her over to the authorities?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I trust that you can find the one we need to track Gneiss down."

"Wait a minute, you're sending  _me_  out there?"

"That's right. And unlike Kalgoorlie, I- and by I, I mean we -trust that you'll be able to find our bounty hunter quickly. Now, on your mark… get set, go!"

And with that, Rhyncho started running, running, running off to find whomever they saw fit to nab Gneiss and bring her to justice.

* * *

Capri did a quick walk through the Chalcopyrite palace courtyard: a marvelous, utopian attraction that was filled with all sorts of magnificent flowers from carnations to hibiscuses to roses and even stars of Bethlehem. She could say why Tanzanite had praised it when she'd come to visit the Queens once. Not having a roof above meant the plants got an equal amount of sunlight and warmth every spring and every summer when the days were at their brightest. At least, that's what Pearl had told her.

Just while she was basking in all this sunshine, Priestess Heliodor suddenly walked in and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Uh, can I help you?" Capri asked Heliodor.

"The Queens advised me to tell you that there's someone here to see you," Heliodor replied.

"Ugh, don't tell me it's Tanzanite who's come to pick me up. I'd hate to leave so soon."

"Uh, no. It's not Tanzanite. It's actually one of the Guardians who's come to see you."

"Oh my God, did Kalgoorlie stop by again?"

"No. Someone else."

"Ulexite?"

"You're getting warmer."

Capri then took a wild guess. "Rhyncho?"

"Yes, him. He says he's looking for a bounty hunter to stop Gneiss."

"What? Why? What did she do?"

"He says she infected Yggdrasil with some sort of pathogen while it was already sick."

Capri pursed her lips and grunted. "I don't believe you."

"She's right," she heard a disembodied voice say.

A few seconds later, Capri saw Rhyncho walk into the courtyard with his tail dragging along behind him. He was so tall compared to her that he had to crouch down to get to her level.

"Rhyncho!" Capri exclaimed to his face. "I can't believe you came all this way here... from Nambulite. Priestess Heliodor says you want a bounty hunter to arrest Gneiss for crimes against life."

"Correct, Miss… uh…"

"Capri. Capri Quartz Universe. My father's Steven Universe, the Chancellor of Chalcopyrite."

"Capri. Anyway, I'm sure Heliodor told you this already, but Gneiss apparently came all this way from Spodumene just to infect Yggdrasil. I can't even understand why someone would go out of their way to do this unless they wanted to start Ragnarok several years early."

"I bet my father could tell you why she would do this."

Rhyncho leaned in a bit closer. "Go on."

"Well, he says that she got really mad at him because she wanted him to pull her dress down and he wouldn't do it. Basically, she wanted him to hit on her and he didn't make a move."

"You expect me to believe that the High Priestess of the Temple of Orthoclase and Hackmanite would infect Yggdrasil even further because of rejection?"

Capri sighed. "Sadly, yes."

"Well, if that's not the most pathetic reason to commit mass genocide, I don't know what is. That is why I want you to be the Guardians' bounty hunter."

"Wha? Me? Why me?"

"Well, you said so yourself. Your father is Steven Universe, the half-human half-Gem Chancellor whose mother was all about protecting life no matter what the consequences were. Surely, you're all about that too?"

"Of course. Why else would I be a Crystal Gem?"

"Right. Now where is your father? I need to ask him about appointing you bounty hunter before we can go any further."

"He should be having another meeting with the Parliament members."

"Then that is where we shall find him. Let's go."

* * *

Back on Earth, the other Crystal Gem members were strolling through Beach City, having decided to take a break from training in the temple to do some leisurely things. Orange Topaz and Aquamarine, in particular, were excited as all get out to play volleyball with the other kids. Tanzanite, however, had other things on her mind. For one, she was wondering what the heck was taking Capri so long to get back. She'd only sent Capri to go to Mineralis to warn Steven about what was happening on Earth; these things were not supposed to take over eight hours to do. Secondly, she couldn't help but worry about how the other Gems were acting like nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Earth was dying all around them and they didn't even seem to notice. Third of all…

Well, she had to hold that thought when she suddenly spotted the Topaz brothers heading her way with two Gems she'd never seen before trailing right behind him.

"Blue Topaz?" Tanzanite asked aloud. "What are you and your brother doing here?" She then tilted her head to take a good look at the other two Gems behind them. "And who are these women with you?"

"Uh, we don't really have that much time to explain," Blue Topaz answered while panting in between each word. "But Green's wife escaped from Mineralis and came here."

"Okay, but what about the other two Gems?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," Kermesite said. "I am Kermesite, the greatest Gem witch of all time, and the blue Gem besides me is Diaboleite."

Diaboleite sheepishly waved at Tanzanite. "Hello. I'm the one who got us into this mess."

"You are, huh?" Tanzanite couldn't help but ask skeptically. "Well, what exactly could you have done to make Xenotime come here?"

"I, uh… accidentally turned her into a giant crocodile."

Tanzanite's eyes flew open wide. "Wait a minute, you're saying you're the reason there's a giant brown crocodile that's been going around terrorizing other people? And Xenotime is that crocodile?!"

"Yes, yes she is," Kermesite answered the leader of the Crystal Gems. "My student and I were going to save her with a resurrection spell, but Dia accidentally read a transformation spell that was written in what we call ancient Arsenopyritian but I'm sure the humans call Old English."

"Really?" Tanzanite scratched the side of her head with her finger. "I was going to say: letting her read the spell out loud to begin with… didn't that seem a little foolhardy to you?"

"In hindsight, yes, but she insisted on it."

"Hey, what's going on over there?" shouted a voice.

Tanzanite turned around to see Jade sprinting up to her while Aquamarine and Fluorite trailed behind.

"Oh, hello, Jade," Tanzanite said. "You remember Kermesite, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah," Jade replied bluntly.

"And you remember Blue Topaz and his brother Green, right?"

"I guess?"

"Well, they're here because Kermesite's apprentice Diaboleite accidentally turned Green's wife into a crocodilian monster, the same monster we just saw earlier terrorizing people."

"Really? No way! Kermesite has an apprentice?"

"Yes, it's news to me, too, but we need to track down Xenotime and stop her before it's too late!"

"But what about volleyball?" Aquamarine whined as loudly as she could.

"There might not be any more volleyball if Yggdrasil dies and takes us with it," Tanzanite replied as calmly as she could.

"What the heck is Yggdrasil anyway and how is it dying going to affect Earth anyhow?"

Despite herself, Tanzanite sighed and began to speak. "This is a story that my father used to tell me every night. In the beginning, nothing existed. There was no light, no solid ground, no air, no gravity, no order; this is what we like to call the Emptiness. Then one day, the tree we call Yggdrasil came into being and a woman named Amber, our first Great Goddess, climbed out of it soon after. She had many, many children including her husband Malachite, the god of prophecy. Together, she and her husband-son presided over the Rhinestones."

"The Rhinestones? What the heck were the Rhinestones?"

"They were the primordial Gems, you might say."

"Okay, but what did they do?"

"They created Mineralis to be as hospitable to all lifeforms as possible and to be a dimension of infinite space, a dimension that houses thousands and thousands of planets outside the planet also known as Mineralis."

"So the planet Mineralis resides in our home dimension that's also called Mineralis? How do people tell which is which?"

"Just refer to our planet as Planet Mineralis and our dimension as the Mineralis Dimension? It's actually quite simple. Anyway, I'm getting off track. The point is, as Yggdrasil gets older, its roots will expand well beyond the Mineralis Dimension and into other dimensions. Right now, one of its roots has reached Earth and that explains why, with Yggdrasil being so sick, Earth is also feeling the effects. Does that make any sense?"

"Uh, sure."

"Good. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, we need to track down Xenotime now. Who knows how much time we might have wasted just standing around here?"

"You got it, Tanzanite!" Jade exclaimed. "Let's go!"

* * *

Capri and Rhyncho rode through the Kalsilite plains on an old sky-tractor that had been abandoned many Mineralis years ago. Gneiss could've gone off anywhere, perhaps to another nation, perhaps to another planet, perhaps to another dimension. However, they didn't seem sure that Gneiss would've gone far enough out of Planet Mineralis's atmosphere without proper space equipment or a well-crafted plan to even leave the planet at all. Nevertheless, they had to search everywhere for her.

"So Rhyncho," Capri spoke up.

"Yes, Miss Capri?" Rhyncho couldn't help but ask.

"I appreciate you picking me to find Gneiss and bring her to justice or whatever, but I don't think I'm the right person for this job."

"Why not? You're a Crystal Gem, no? Crystal Gems are all about bringing peace and harmony to the people."

"Yeah, but I'm more of a pacifist kind of person. I would rather solve problems without violence than with it."

"Ah. So you're more like your father and grandmother then?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Well, that's a good trait to have. You know, if there were lots more people out there like you, the world would be better for it. I guarantee it."

Capri blushed a bit. "Thanks, Rhyncho." She leaned back against him. "That's actually really uplifting. So where do you suppose we should look for Gneiss first?"

Rhyncho thought about this for a minute. "Well, since she is a High Priestess, she probably would've chosen to hide out in a church or a mosque or any other religious sanctuary."

"To seek religious asylum, right?"

"I'd assume that's why she'd go there."

"Alright, let's try to find a church, every last one. Who knows what Gneiss might be trying to do?"

And so with this plan in mind, the human/Gem hybrid and the Opisthia set off to a church on their quest to find Gneiss.


	8. Chapter 8

The first church Rhyncho and Capri stopped at was the Church of Nepheline, located in the war-torn nation of Phlogopite. This church was one of the country's oldest structures in existence, a relic from when Phlogopite was run as an authoritarian theocracy. That was no longer the case these days, but as far as anyone was concerned, the separation of church and state was nonexistent. Rhyncho was the first to step up to the doors and knock.

"Are you sure they might help us?" Capri had to ask. "From what I hear, they don't tolerate any religion but their own."

"I'm not certain," Rhyncho replied. "But if they know where she is, it might be a step in the right direction."

Suddenly, the doors opened to reveal a Sapphirine dressed in nun garb. She had a face as round as an orange, an upturned nose, lips so thin that they'd disappear if they were any smaller, and wore half-moon glasses that rested ever-so-comfortably on the bridge of her nose.

"Can I help you?" she asked the two complete strangers before her.

"Hi, we're looking for a High Priestess named Acasta Gneiss," Capri answered right away.

"Oh? What did she do?"

"Well, it might be a bit hard to believe, but..." Capri heaved out a sigh and continued. "She infected Yggdrasil with phytoplasmas while it was already sick."

Sapphirine's eyes shrunk at what she'd heard. "W-What?" She frantically covered her mouth with her hand and tried to wrap her mind around this. "This... this has to be a joke. No one would be so callous as to actually hurt the Tree of Life, right?"

"I wish we were kidding, Sister Sapphirine," Rhyncho said. "I truly do. And to top it off, Gneiss did this because she was rejected by a man."

"Sweet Nepheline!" Sapphirine exclaimed. "Gneiss actually did that? And over a man? This is wrong! Temple priests are supposed to uphold a celibate life!" She broke down, crying. "I can't believe someone of her ranking would do this. Not even the leaders who ran Phlogopite long ago would have the audacity to try and kill the tree that gave us life!"

"We're sorry you had to hear it from us, Sister Sapphirine," Capri apologized from the bottom of her heart. "But Rhyncho and I are going to find her and bring her to justice. We will scour the whole dimension for her if that's what it takes."

Sapphirine was still crying and produced a tissue from her pocket to wipe away the tears. "Oh, thank Nepheline. You two are outstanding citizens for doing this. I know the other sisters here won't approve but do you want me to give you some prayer beads before you go?"

"No thank you," Rhyncho answered as politely as he could. "I appreciate your offer, but my god wouldn't approve of such things."

"But I insist. Even if you pray to another god- whom I'm almost certain is a deviant war-mongering god -and He wouldn't want His subjects possessing items from another religion, I still think you should wear these prayer beads to help you find Gneiss."

"Just take the beads, Rhyncho," Capri told him.

Rhyncho sighed with reluctance and held his hand out so Sapphirine could give him the prayer beads. "Alright. Now do you have any idea where Gneiss might be?"

"Unfortunately, I can't help with that. I didn't even see her at all."

"Alright, thanks for trying to help," Capri said. "We appreciate it."

After saying their goodbyes to the nice nun, Capri and Rhyncho got back onto the sky-tractor and zoomed off to their next destination, wherever it may be.

* * *

Tanzanite had taken the rest of the Crystal Gems still present with her back to the temple. The Topaz brothers, Kermesite, and Diaboleite went back there with her to discuss what the best plan for approaching Xenotime was.

"You know, Tanzanite, I'm a little hurt you didn't remember me back there," Kermesite said. "I mean, I was with you and Nephrite when we came to Earth for the first time."

"And I'm sorry about that," Tanzanite replied dryly. "But it was such a long time ago and I've encountered so many other Kermesites since then."

Blue Topaz cleared his throat. "Well, anyway, about trying to stop Xenotime. What do we have so far?"

Orange Topaz jumped up and raised her hand frantically.

"Yes, what is it, Orange Topaz?" Blue Topaz asked.

"Just hear me out for a sec," Orange said. "What if we..." She left in a dramatic pause. "...gave her treats in the hopes that she'll realize she's been a monster?"

Everyone else just stared at her in confusion.

"Well…" Kermesite began. "It's not that it's a bad idea per se. It's just not a good idea."

"Yeah," Fluorite agreed. "It sounds like somethin' Steven woulda come up with, givin' a monster food as a peace offerin'."

"Alright, anybody else?" Blue Topaz asked again.

Now Jade stood up. "This might sound crazy, but if we used all our weapons at once on her, we might have a shot at taking Xenotime down. I could use my hammer to attack her head-on, Aquamarine could use her cannons to shoot into her back, Tanzanite could use her parasol as a distraction, Orange Topaz could use her powers and scream at the monster to stun her, Fluorite could use her power boots, and Diamond could use her super-strong skin to absorb any blows Xenotime could throw her way. Sound like a good plan to you, Blue?"

Blue pursed his lips and thought about this for a minute. "Hmm… it doesn't sound like the best plan in the world but then again, you used to be a gladiatress, not a military general. Of course you'd suggest that you yourself would attack my sister-in-law head-on. What do you think, Green?"

"Uh…" Green was stunned that Jade would even suggest attacking his beloved wife. "I'm not sure about this. I'm still holding out hope that we might be able to save her somehow, so maybe we should just take a break and talk about this later."

"Sure, Green," Blue said. "But if it gets to a point that we are in dire straits and can't save Xenotime, then… I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to put her out of her misery and just move on."

Green could only sigh. "I know."

All of a sudden, Hitomi burst through the door of the house built into the temple. "Hey," she said. "Uh… you guys should check this out."

"What is it, Mrs. Universe?" Blue Topaz asked the human woman.

"People are already evacuating Earth to go live on Mars. It's all over the news! You gotta watch!"

"Oh my Gods, are you serious?"

"Yeah! You gotta come watch now!"

Blue sighed. "Alright, guys. Let's take a break and watch the news. I'm sure we'll think of something then."


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you sure you know where Gneiss might be hiding?" Capri asked after she and Rhyncho had searched every religious retreat within their range. "I don't know why Gneiss would choose to hide in any religious sanctuary but her own."

"Well, maybe there's someone out there who'd be willing to harbor her despite what's she done," Rhyncho suggested. "After all, we haven't looked in every ashram on this planet."

"True, but none of the priests, nuns, gurus, or even Muftis Surinamite and Schmiederite seemed even remotely willing to harbor a known criminal into their domains. Perhaps we're not looking in the right places."

Rhyncho could only tilt his head at this. "Really? And where do you suggest we should look, Miss Capri?"

"I'm not sure, but anywhere but the churches and the mosques and the temples."

"Can you be a little more specific than that?"

"Well, what if she went off to one of the planets besides ours?"

"Are you sure about this, Miss Capri?"

"Not really, but she could be anywhere. We have to keep looking for her, even if where she's heading is just a hunch."

Rhyncho sighed. "Alright, I trust you. But first, we need to find some space equipment so we can actually go out to these planets. Also, since you're mostly Gem and Gems can breathe in any environment they're in, I'm going to need a spacesuit just for me."

"Gotcha. Alright, let's stop along this stretch of road and ask that Mackayite if she knows where the nearest space station is."

"Okay." Rhyncho couldn't help but squeeze his rider from behind just a little bit harder. "I hope you know what you're doing, Miss Capri. Otherwise, all will be lost."

"Don't worry, Rhyncho. You said it yourself: I'm a Crystal Gem and Crystal Gems are all about bringing peace and harmony to people."

This brought a smile to Rhyncho's face. "Okay."

* * *

The Crystal Gems, along with the Topaz brothers, Kermesite, Diaboleite, Hitomi, and Hitomi's stepdaughter Rebecca, were all huddled around the flat-screen TV that was screwed to the wall. They'd just watched the news report about the humans who were planning to leave Earth to go live on Mars (which, by now, was fully terraformed and perfectly hospitable for humans) and were now watching another news report on how the humans were going to spend their last days on Earth.

"Good evening, I'm Michelle Swanson," the TV reporter began to speak.

"And I'm Jolyne Atkins," the second TV reporter piped up.

"Tonight," Michelle continued. "We're continuing coverage on the denizens of Beach City and how they want to spend their last days on Earth. It seemed like only yesterday that the Earth seemed to be healthy as ever with the wildlife thriving like they should be. Recently, however, there have been reports of torrential rains, sudden volcanic eruptions, plants and animals dying en masse, and perhaps worst of all several nations sinking into the oceans. May we hold the Caribbean islands forever in our hearts."

Hitomi softly gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Oh God…" she murmured. "Those poor Caribbeans…"

"My Goddess, that's awful!" Tanzanite yelled in conjunction.

"We now go to Jaxson Faulkner live for the coverage," Michelle announced. "Jaxson?"

When the TV cut to Jaxson doing his coverage on the story, the Crystal Gems decided to start talking again.

"Alright," Tanzanite began to speak. "Since Yggdrasil seems to be getting worse by the second, I think it's high time that we start looking for Xenotime now before it's too late."

"Wait, what's this about Yggdrasil?" a confused Hitomi couldn't help but ask.

Aquamarine stood up and began to speak. "It's this huge tree that created everything in Mineralis and it's dying right now."

"Okay, but what's Earth got to do with it?"

"Well… I kinda zoned out a bit while Tanzanite was telling me about it, but Yggdrasil's roots spread over here and with the tree dying, it's spreading its illness over here. It's kinda like when I was sick and I had to be stowed away in the quarantine cube so I wouldn't infect Rose Quartz. Except here, there is no quarantine cube."

"What's a quarantine cube?" Rebecca asked out of curiosity.

"If I remember what Tanzanite told me earlier, she said it's a containment area shaped like a cube designed to keep sick Gems away from the others," Hitomi answered her stepdaughter. "That  _is_  what a quarantine cube is, right?"

"That's correct," Tanzanite said. "Anyway, with Yggdrasil getting sicker by the moment and infecting Earth along with it, we need to start looking for Xenotime now. And I do mean now. Otherwise, it'll be too late and we're all going to die."

"Okay, but where do we go?" Hitomi asked again.

"And what exactly do we need to do to find her?" Rebecca asked as well.

"I'm not entirely sure," Tanzanite answered with a bit of uncertainty to her voice. "Perhaps Kermesite can help us with this, though."

"Really?" Orange Topaz asked the Gem witch eagerly. "Are you gonna help us out?"

Kermesite heaved out a sigh. "Might as well. It's sort of my fault Xenotime is a monster anyway."


	10. Chapter 10

Rhyncho and Capri had now arrived at the space station where they could access the space capsule they needed to reach other planets. It seemed like the feeling in Capri's gut was getting stronger and stronger the closer they came to finding Gneiss, but she still had to keep in mind that she could be wrong about where exactly Gneiss could have gone and that the whole thing might be for nothing if they failed. Nevertheless, this gave her even more determination to find the High Priestess and bring her to justice.

As soon as Capri and Rhyncho made it inside, the first thing they did was walk up to the space station director, an Aurichalcite indigenous to the badlands of Magnesiochromite. She was a sky-blue Gem who had curves in all the right places and a buxom chest. Her face took on a square shape with a Roman nose and plump lips and her hair was done up in three buns across from one another in the back.

"Top o' the morning to you, dear Gem and Opisthia," she greeted the two strangers before her. "How can I help you today?"

"And the rest to you, Miss Aurichalcite," Capri replied. "My, uh, friend and I are searching for a Gem who may've left Mineralis for another planet. We were hoping if you had a space capsule handy."

"We only have one available right now and it can only fit two passengers. Another Gem stopped by to take a space capsule half an hour ago. You wouldn't be looking for her by any chance, would you?"

Capri couldn't believe what she'd just heard: another Gem just happened to take a space capsule and leave with it. What were the odds of that happening? And what were the odds that it could've been Gneiss?

"Oh, um… yes, she is," she answered her. "Can you tell me what the name of the Gem was that took the single-passenger capsule?"

"Sure. It's Acasta Gneiss."

Rhyncho gasped. "Oh my God! You were right, Capri."

"Alright, now is there a reason you're looking for her right now?" Aurichalcite asked curiously.

"Well, you know about Yggdrasil, right? I'm one of the Guardians of the Tree and Gneiss had actually stopped by and infected it while it was already sick. I brought this young lady with me, Capri Universe, to track down the High Priestess and bring her back to be extradited."

Aurichalcite's eyes flew wide open and she gasped. "Oh my Gods! I've heard of you. You're Rhyncho Searles Trona. What a pleasure it is to meet you finally."

"Thank you, Miss Aurichalcite. And the same to you. You've been a great help to us. Now can we take the two-passenger capsule now?"

"Sure. Just go down the hall to your left. Sorry if I kept you waiting for so long."

"It's okay. Again, thanks for your help."

* * *

By the time Kermesite, Diaboleite, the Topaz brothers, and what was left of the Crystal Gems had finished working on the trap for Xenotime, they were beyond exhausted out of their minds. For at least six hours, they'd managed to pour all of their efforts into creating what was essentially a giant metal wire cage that could easily fit a  _Deinosuchus_  inside. They'd even managed to have the foresight to use Kermesite's magic to make the metal cage virtually indestructible just in case Xenotime decided to destroy it in all her rage.

"Well, that's it," Blue Topaz announced. "That's about as much as we could do for the trap. Now we just need someone to lure Xenotime over and hopefully stop her."

"'Kay," Aquamarine said. "So who are you gonna use as bait?"

"Well, we need someone who's small and has the right kind of weapons to provoke her. Someone like… you."

"Wha… me? But I'm just a kid! You can't use me!"

"Yes, I can. Now you better go out there and get her. The fates of our world and this one depend on you."

"Yes, sir."

And with that, Aquamarine was off to find Xenotime and bring her back. She started running, running, running as fast as her legs would allow her. She was determined to find the monster no matter how much her muscles ached and seized in pain. She kept a lookout for Xenotime, making sure to look all around for any sign of her. Suddenly, she heard a low growling coming from beside her.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is there anybody out there? If you're looking for a fight, you're gonna get one!"

The growling only grew louder.

"So you do wanna fight?" Aquamarine now asked with a smirk on her face. "Well, you better come get me then. Tell you what, I'll give you a head start." Her arms turned into cannons right at that very moment and shot off lasers into what she could only presume was in Xenotime's direction. "How do you like them-?"

Suddenly, Xenotime started charging at the young Gem girl. Aquamarine promptly screamed and shat herself before deciding to run off and lead the monster to the trap. She ran, ran, ran as fast as possible, making sure that every sprint she made got her further and further away from death. Meanwhile, Xenotime had fully given in to her primal instincts. Where she would've seen a possible ally, someone who could possibly save her life, she saw food.

"You're too slow, croc!" Aquamarine yelled out as a taunt. "I bet if you were any slower, you'd be a snail!"

Xenotime picked up a bit more speed in response and this urged Aquamarine to do the same. When she finally saw the trap on the horizon, Aquamarine quickly made a sharp right turn while Xenotime ran straight into the trap and knocked herself out.

"Good work, Aqua!" Blue exclaimed. "Now if Kermesite would just hurry up and pull up a spell to change my sister-in-law back to normal, we might be able to fix this."

"Hey!" Kermesite yelled. "I'm flipping through this book as fast as I can."

"Can I help, Miss Kermesite?" Diaboleite asked as sweetly as she could.

"Haven't you helped enough already?"

"Fair enough."

Kermesite proceeded to continue flipping through her book for the right kind of spell that could change Xenotime back whether it was successful or not. "Alright, now where is that damn spell?" she asked herself. "I know it's somewhere in the 'R' section, but I can't remember the name for the life of me..."

"Okay..." Jade said. "Now what do we do?"

"Just wait for Kermesite to find the spell she's looking for and change Xenotime back, I guess," Blue answered uncertainly. "It might take a while."

* * *

Capri and Rhyncho had now made it to Giegue, one of the prison planets Mineralis had had in its possession for fifty Mineralis years. This planet had a surface temperature of approximately 122 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for making prisoners suffer while working under extreme conditions, and was perpetually stuck in a xeric environment that hosted very little indigenous life. What little life there was, however, featured such organisms as lizard people known as Geyri that were much like the Opisthias, date palms, venomous snakes, flies, and regular, puny lizards that often roamed the planet in great numbers. Only one building could be seen for miles on end: a steel tower that stood approximately eighty feet tall and overlooked all the prisoners within its vicinity.

"While your instincts might have been right, how do you suppose we might find Gneiss around here?" Rhyncho asked.

"I'm not sure," Capri replied. "But maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure out where she could be hiding."

"How would crashing our heads together help us find Gneiss?"

"It's a figure of speech."

"Ah. I see."

"Anyway, maybe if we ask around, they might point us in the right direction."

"Are you sure they might know where she is?"

"Absolutely." All of a sudden, Capri spotted a female Geyri in the distance. "Look, I see a Geyri! Let's go ask her about Gneiss!"

"Capri, wait!" However, his cry fell on deaf ears and he sighed while trailing behind her.

Capri caught up to the Geyri and grabbed her shoulders. The Geyri turned around to see who it was.

"Can I help you?" she asked the stranger who'd grabbed her.

"Um, hi, I'm Capri Universe and the Opisthia behind me is Rhyncho," Capri answered.

"Okay..." The Geyri left in an awkward silence and just stared at Capri the whole time.

The Geyri had vibrant green and black scales that covered her body, a toned masculine body that exposed her muscle sinews, and her tail was covered in several tiny spikes that could easily be used against intruders. She had dark gray eyes and her mouth contained several sharp, shiny teeth that stood out against her bluish-black gums and tongue.

"We're here to find someone," Rhyncho explained. "She infected the Tree of Life and we need to bring her back to Mineralis so she can be punished for her crime against life."

The Geyri just continued to hold her tongue.

"Can you help us find her?" Capri asked the Geyri.

Finally, the Geyri decided to speak again. "Well, we just met, but sure, why not? I can help you out. By the way, my name's Zarmina."

"Thanks, Zarmina, you're a lifesaver. Now do you know where she might have gone?"

"Uh, well, you haven't given me much to go on. Can you be a little more specific than that?"

"Sure, no problem."

For the next few minutes, Capri and Rhyncho proceeded to explain to Zarmina who Gneiss was, what she'd done before, why she decided to infect Yggdrasil, and why they decided to go after her.

"Wow…" Zarmina said. "What a piece of work."

"I know, right?" Capri asked. "I'd never heard of anyone trying to hurt Yggdrasil the way she did, at least until now. I know my grandmother saw beauty in everything, but I wonder how she would've felt about someone deliberately poisoning the Tree of Life."

"I can't even begin to imagine how that must feel. Alright, if we want to find Gneiss, we need to go up to the top of the prison tower and lure her out."

"That sounds like a good idea, but what if the warden catches us?"

"That's a risk we're willing to take, right?" She didn't get an answer right away. " _Right?_ "

"Right," Capri and Rhyncho simultaneously answered.


	11. Chapter 11

Back on Earth, Kermesite, Diaboleite, the Topaz brothers, and what was left of the Crystal Gems had just captured Xenotime and were now rushing against time to change her back before Yggdrasil, and in turn the Earth, was going to die. Kermesite was still trying to find the spell that could revert Green Topaz's wife back to normal, having flipped through several pages in order to do so.

"Did you find it yet?" Green Topaz asked Kermesite anxiously.

"Nope," Kermesite answered him. "I know it's in this book somewhere... I just need to find it..." She flipped through it a little bit more before landing on the page she wanted. "A-ha!"

"Oh my Gods, you found it?" Blue Topaz asked eagerly.

"Yep," Kermesite replied again. She trailed her finger along the page until it landed on the spell she was looking for. "Here it is: 'The Reversal Spell'. It's supposed to reverse any and all transformations that may have been done with previous spells."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Recite the spell already!"

"Now hold on. I need to check and see if I wrote it down the way I was supposed to…" Kermesite cleared her throat. "'Amber, dear Amber, listen if you may. Whatever I've inflicted here, please make it go away.'" And when Kermesite uttered these words… nothing seemed to happen. "Huh?"

"Um, excuse me," Blue Topaz spoke up. "But you wouldn't have happened to write down the wrong spell, would you?"

"Oh Gods!" his brother Green exclaimed. "It didn't work! What now?"

"Now hold on," Kermesite said. "I could've sworn I wrote it down correctly. Perhaps if I recite it again, I might-"

But before she could've said anything else, Xenotime broke down her cage from the inside and scuttled away to create more panic and chaos in Beach City.

"Well, at least now we know it works," Aquamarine quipped before laughing her ass off.

Jade responded by slapping her upside the head.

* * *

For the next several minutes, Capri, Rhyncho, and Zarmina proceeded to climb, climb, climb up the prison tower, all eighty feet of it. About eleven feet up, Rhyncho and Zarmina started panting like dogs while Capri appeared to show no signs of exhaustion or overheating whatsoever, not even while the heat of Giegue's star was brutally beating down on them.

"Capri!" Zarmina exclaimed out of shock while they continued to ascend up the tower. "I cannot believe you haven't even broken a sweat! How do you do it?"

"Well, she's 3/4ths Gem and 1/4th human," Rhyncho proceeded to explain to his Geyri friend. "She doesn't need to regulate temperature exactly."

"Ah, that makes sense." Zarmina then diverted her attention to Capri. "So Capri, tell me. What's it like to have a father who draws his heritage from Gems  _and_  humans?"

"Eh… it's nothing really special. He's basically a human, just with Gem abilities. He still needs oxygen to breathe, he still needs to eat and sleep, and basically function like any other human being. When Grandma Rose had my dad, she basically became  _half_  of him."

"So… does that make him his own mother?"

"I guess so. And if we go by that logic,  _I'm_  my own mother as well and so are practically most Gems."

Zarmina tried not to think about that too hard; it would've made her head explode.

Capri proceeded to stop for a moment and pull out her whip from her gem and whip it near the very top of the prison tower. She then climbed up on her whip and proceeded to leave her fellow reptilian friends behind for a bit.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rhyncho yelled out to Capri. "If you could do that this whole time, why were you just scaling the tower with us?"

"Honestly, I just needed the exercise," Capri replied. She managed to reach to the top and sit upon the chair that was usually reserved for the warden. "Alright, guys. I made it. What should I do now, Zarmina?"

"Let's see..." Zarmina had to think for a moment. "What powers do you have?"

"Well..." Capri started listing off powers she could think of off the top of her head. "I can spin dash, I can float, I can flutter jump, I can heal living things with my spit and bring them back to life with my tears, and…"

"Whoa!" Zarmina exclaimed. "Are you also part-god?"

"Well, kinda. When Grandma Rose needed help stopping Zirconia from killing the squishy humans, she had the Pantheon give them part of their powers to her and when she sacrificed her form to have Dad many years later, she passed those powers down to him and then he passed them down to me."

"Amazing. I didn't know the Gem Gods could even do that."

"Well, now you know. Anyway, I guess if I use one of the Gods' powers to lure her out, we might be able to catch her this way."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Use them!"

"Alright, I will! Just… give me a second." Capri thought about it for a minute before an idea dawned on her. "Well, what if I call down lightning? She'll have to come and see what's that about!"

"That's great! Do you know how to do it?"

"Um..." Capri started to think back on the time when Tanzanite had told her a story about how Pumice had once struck lightning down upon Zeolite's head out of spite by chanting a very specific chant that was reserved only for him. "Sure." She cleared her throat and then started chanting. " _Voces et tonitrua, heu! Venite ad me. Rursus imperils et fulmine terres et ostende te mihi._ " And when she had finished reciting the chant, a single bolt of lightning crashed down in front of her and a thunderclap followed.

As if on cue, Gneiss and the warden, a Sillimanite, came running to see what the commotion was about.

"What's going on here?" Sillimanite asked out of befuddlement. "Who are you three and what are you doing scaling that tower?"

"Oh, good, you're here," Capri replied calmly. "My name is Capri Universe and these are my friends Rhyncho and Zarmina. Rhyncho here is one of the guardians of Yggdrasil, the tree that your companion here just poisoned." She pointed directly at Gneiss as she said this. "And Zarmina is just Zarmina."

"Yggdrasil? Poisoned?" Sillimanite turned her head to face Gneiss. "Do you know what she's talking about?"

"Nope, not a clue," Gneiss lied. "This woman is insane."

"I am not!" Capri rebutted. "Don't listen to her, Warden. She poisoned the tree because my dad rejected her sexual advances and she didn't take it well."

"I can vouch for that," Rhyncho agreed. "When my fellow Guardians and I were looking into one of the cracks that had just formed in the tree, we couldn't help but notice that it was beginning to suffer signs of necrosis, something we did not see before Gneiss dropped by for her 'visit.'"

"Is this true, Priestess?" Sillimanite asked Gneiss. "Did you infect the tree because Capri's father rejected you?"

Gneiss sighed at this, knowing that if she lied any further, she'd only delay the inevitable. "Yes, it's true," she admitted. "I was upset and sought to take my anger on something. I thought perhaps by poisoning the tree, I could get his attention and then impress him by curing it myself." She proceeded to climb up the tower and confront Capri herself. "Take me home, Capri. No use in hiding anymore."

"Wait a minute, you're giving yourself up?" Rhyncho asked in stunned confusion. "Just like that?"

Gneiss could only shrug. "Why not?" However, just as Capri had clamped her hands down onto her wrists, Gneiss suddenly jerked backwards and smacked her head into Capri's own, sending her hurtling all the way down to the ground.

"Capri!" Rhyncho cried out. He suddenly felt something he'd never felt before: righteous, justified anger. "Oh, now you're really going to get it, Priestess! You hear me? I'm coming for you!" He scuttled up the tower and landed a blow across Gneiss's face. "How do you like that, you genocidal maniac?"

"How dare you hit a lady!" Gneiss screamed at him while clawing his face. "Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"I never knew my parents! My masters raised me from an egg! Monster, how could you do this and to your own dimension no less?! Do you not realize how much danger you've put our dimension and Earth? Everything will  _die_  because of you!"

"Like that matters to me! If it's my fault that Mineralis will be gone, then so be it!"

Rhyncho proceeded to sock Gneiss across the face and kick her off the tower, which sent her falling to the ground at such a great speed that it broke her neck. She then poofed and retreated into her gem.

"Are you okay, Capri?" Rhyncho asked softly.

Capri groaned while she got back up. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Thanks for taking a hit at Gneiss. That was great."

"Anything for you, Miss Universe."

"So… what are you guys going to do now?" Zarmina asked her new friends.

"Now..." Rhyncho answered. "We'll bring her back to Mineralis and hand her over to the authorities."


	12. Chapter 12

In hindsight, perhaps Kermesite should've specified to the reversal spell what kind of spell she'd wanted reversed, but that didn't matter right now. Right now, Xenotime was on the loose and setting about destruction for just about everyone in Beach City.

"Dia!" Kermesite called out to her apprentice. "Come on! We need to get everyone to safety!"

"On it, Miss Kermesite!" Diaboleite called back. She ran out to the boardwalk where everyone happened to be watching fireworks. "Hurry, guys! We gotta get to City Hall! It's the safest place to be!"

She, the Topaz brothers, and the rest of the Crystal Gems started rushing the townspeople into City Hall as quickly as they could. Once everyone was inside, they all rushed back to confront Xenotime and stop her.

"Goddamnit!" Jade yelled in frustration. "Where's Capri when you need her? She could probably take this monster down in seconds!"

"Excuse me," Green Topaz butted in. "That monster is my wife! Don't talk about her like that!"

"She stopped being your wife when she lost herself in her form."

"Still…"

"Alright, guys, enough fighting," Blue Topaz said. "We need to take Xenotime down before she can cause any more damage."

"Yes, what he said," Tanzanite conceded. "Let's go!"

They all rushed forward into Xenotime's path and launched into attack mode. When Xenotime swung her tail towards Aquamarine, she jumped over it, only to trip and fall when she landed. Jade ran over to her and helped her on her feet while most of the Crystal Gems summoned their respective weapons and started to use them against the crocodilian monster.

"Hey!" Jade yelled at the other Crystal Gems. "How you guys holding up?"

"Uh, I dunno, Jade," Fluorite responded crassly after her boots failed to land a hit. "How do you think?" As soon as those words left her mouth, one of Xenotime's feet pinned her to the ground. "Aw, crap! Somebody help!"

"Fluorite!" Orange Topaz cried out. "Hang in there, Flo! I'm coming!" She started running over to where her friend was before a pair of arms wrapped around her torso and dragged her back.

"No, you're not," Tanzanite said. "I'm not about to let you kill yourself at the hands of that monster."

"Let me go, Tanzy! I gotta help Fluorite!"

"No, you're not! You're too young to be fighting right now!"

"I said… let… me… GO!"

And with that, Topaz's powers activated and she started screaming at the top of her lungs, laying waste to all the eardrums around her. Her powerful shriek also just so happened to stun Xenotime, practically freezing her in her place and driving her to let out her own terrible roar. When Topaz stopped screaming, Xenotime did too and Fluorite was able to wiggle free from underneath her foot and join the rest of the group.

"Holy shit, dude," Aquamarine said. "I think this is the first time you've summoned your powers."

"It is?" Orange Topaz asked, a bit dazed by what had just happened.

"Yeah! Oh my God, you're like a real-life Black Canary or something. This is awesome!"

"Huh. That's weird."

"I'm not gonna lie, Topi," Jade chimed in. "What you did there was actually pretty amazing."

All of a sudden, they heard a low rumbling in the distance.

"Hey, what's that?" Jade asked.

She, Kermesite, Diaboleite, the Topaz brothers, and the rest of the Crystal Gems turned around to see tanks rolling in, ready to subdue the monster they called Xenotime, while police cars trailed in from behind. While most of the Gems were pleased that some help had arrived, one Gem was not.

"No!" Green Topaz cried out. "What do they think they're doing?!" He ran towards Xenotime and wrapped his arms around part of her snout. "If you step any closer, I'll use my dagger on you!"

"What is he doing?" Diaboleite asked. "Is he crazy?"

"Yeah, he can be, unfortunately," Blue Topaz answered with a sigh.

"Sir, step away from the monster!" a police officer shouted at Green Topaz.

"No way, officer!" Green Topaz lashed out at him. "This monster is my wife and I will not have you take her away so she can die at the hands of the American government!"

"Well, we need to contain your wife so she can't hurt anyone else. You understand? Please think about this."

"Oh, you want me to think about it? Not going to happen. You step any closer and I'll have to bring out my dagger."

"Alright, bud. You've left me with no choice." He ran over to where Green Topaz was and tackled him to the ground. Around the same time, Xenotime chomped down on the officer's leg and swung him around like a rag-doll. He could only scream in pain as she clamped down harder on his leg and thrash him every which way. "Oh God! My leg!"

The other officers whipped out their guns and pointed them at the crocodilian beast.

"Ben!" another officer yelled out to him. "Hold on! Just try to think of Emma! Please think of her!"

While he gradually lost consciousness, he tried desperately to fight back, whether it be by pounding on Xenotime with his free foot, headbutting her in the snout, or trying to claw her thick brownish-yellow scales. He tried, dear God he tried, but eventually he couldn't try anymore and he took his last breath right before Xenotime dropped him to the ground.

"Officer down!" yet another officer cried out. "Officer down! Fire when I say you can!"

Green Topaz stood aghast when he caught a glimpse of Officer Ben's bloodied corpse and so was faced with a difficult choice: let her continue to kill the officers and eventually him or put her out of her mercy. It took him a bit of thinking, but he'd made his choice. He held his hand up, signalling the officers to lower their guns, and went over to confront Xenotime.

"Xenotime?" he called out to her. "I know you probably don't recognize me, but I just want to tell you I'm sorry…" He paused to make sure she was listening. "I'm sorry that I treated you like I did and I'm sorry that I insisted that I knew what was best for you when I took you to be healed by Kermesite and Diaboleite. I didn't. I should've just accepted that you were dying and tried to salvage our marriage before you died. I just couldn't bear to lose you after everything we'd been through. So please, I'd like to do what's right and spare you any more suffering."

In a way, Xenotime seemed to understand what he was saying despite no longer being herself. She lifted her head up to reveal the gem on her lower jaw, right where her lower lip would be. Green Topaz then proceeded to summon his weapon and start stabbing it into his wife's gem, cracking it more and more until it shattered and the pieces fell to the ground. Xenotime's form then disintegrated and all that was left was a collection of brownish-yellow gem shards on the ground. Green Topaz could only start crying as he picked the shards up from the ground and burying his face into them.

"Wow, that's rough, buddy," Jade could only say while he continued to do this. "I'm sure she appreciates it, though."

"I know," Green Topaz could only reply faintly. "At least I can rest easy knowing she's no longer in pain."

* * *

Steven struggled to figure out how Yggdrasil could be saved with the limited time they had left. He knew that ordinary Gems would not be able to heal the tree on their own and he knew that at the rate that the tree was dying, the Pantheon would be too weak to be able to do anything to stop the diseases running rampant through it. He knew there had to be a way… there had to…

"Steven!" Pearl called out to him. "Are you ready to take a break?"

"Not yet, Pearl," he called back to her. "I just need to figure out a few more things."

"What more needs to be figured out?" Pearl couldn't help but ask when she and Garnet came into the room to see how he was doing. "Every Gem that has tried to enter Yggdrasil and heal it from the inside has died as a result of not being able to handle the amount of power it has. While they may have been successful, they've never lived to tell about it."

"Well, they're just Gems. Of course, they wouldn't live to talk about how they saved Yggdrasil." Then it finally dawned on him. "Unless…" Steven started running for the doors.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled out to him. "Where are you going?!"

"To the Nambulite desert!" he yelled back while continuing to run. "This is something I need to fix!"

"But Steven, you're half-Gem! You'll die!"

"But I'm also half-human, remember? That's why I need to do this. Goodbye, you guys. Keep me in your hearts."

Pearl sniffled a bit while trying to hold back her tears. "Okay..."

"We will, Steven," Garnet assured him while smiling. "Trust us."

Steven smiled back. "Thanks, guys. This means so much to me."

"I'm sure it would've meant a lot to your mother, too," Garnet said. "Now you better get going. You've got worlds to save."

"Thanks, Garnet." Now with his confidence through the roof, Steven picked up more speed while he ran to his destination, eager to do what his mother would've done when faced with the same situation. "I'll make you guys proud!"

He mounted one of the royal anteater-camels and began his journey to Yggdrasil the Tree of Life. All throughout the Nambulite desert, he managed to capture the attention of many a starstruck nomad who happened to sojourning at the moment. He had to get there quickly; it was only a matter of time before all of Mineralis died and took the Earth with it. He gently prodded the anteater-camel once in the ribs to pick up speed and hopefully get to his destination in time. Before he knew it, he'd finally made it. He dismounted from his sturdy companion and went over to the tree, making absolute sure that he didn't accidentally hurt it with his touch. Before he'd fully laid his hand on Yggdrasil's bark, he heard something.

"H̴̻̅e̵̺͝l̶͉͌l̷͚͘o̴̼̅?̷̢̀" a disembodied voice called out to him. "Î̵̯s̴̢͛ ̸̹̌ă̷̪n̵͙̈́y̶͇̌b̸̹̾ọ̶͛d̷̢͛y̶̡̏ ̷͉̕t̶̰́h̶̘̍e̸̡̿r̸̘̓e̵̞̒?̷̪͝ ̴̫̒C̵̹̒a̵̫̓n̴̯͆ ̸̯̉y̶̞̕o̸͛ͅu̸̝̍ ̶̰̊h̷͕͐e̵͇̋l̸̿͜p̶̢̾ ̵̖̀m̸͇̈e̴̤̚?̵̫͘"

"What's going on?!" Steven asked frantically while searching for the voice. "Who is this?"

"Í̶̹ ̵͈͂ä̸̧́m̷̫̄ ̵̗̓Ŷ̷͙g̵̳̊g̵̜̽d̷̤͂r̵̼̊ȧ̴̼ş̶̔i̸̻̿l̶̘̐,̷̫͊ ̷̥͌t̵̢̐h̵̗̊e̴͓̓ ̶͍͘o̶̐͜n̸̳̾e̷͍̊,̴̨͝ ̶̻̿ṭ̸̽h̵̲͑e̸̩̐ ̴̠̌o̵̯̽n̷̲͠l̶̳͠y̷̼̽,̵͇͋ ̴̧̅ţ̶͑h̸͎̅ė̷̲ ̵̹̃T̷̡̈́r̴̙̐e̶̼͌e̷̩̋ ̵̧̊a̶̦͂l̶̡̀l̴̗͒ ̷̣͐ő̴̡w̸͍͘ë̶͓ ̷̤̒t̴̮͗h̵̻̀ẹ̶͒i̷͔͗r̶͈͝ ̵̍͜é̸̙x̷̹̾i̸̳̓s̷̜̽t̵̙͊e̶̲͂n̸̖̔c̴͜͠ḙ̵͗ ̵̢͠t̶̢̆ȯ̷̦,̸̹͐" Yggdrasil answered calmly. "Y̸͔̎o̴̲͌u̸̻̽ ̸͖͂m̵͓͒u̷̼͒s̴̯̈́t̶͈͠ ̷̥͆b̴̭̎e̵̳͆ ̸̃͜ḩ̵͋e̸͈̍ṟ̸̅e̸͛͜ ̴͕̿ṱ̵͊o̵̯͐ ̴͎͒s̵̟͠â̸͕v̸͓͒è̷̯ ̸͉̒m̴̫̃e̵͍͝.̸͓͘"

Steven quickly calmed down. "Yes. My name's Steven Universe and I-"

"I̵̘̓ ̸̛͇å̸͈ḻ̵̈́r̶̮̕e̵̗̿å̴̡ď̷̟y̷̙̽ ̷̥̓k̸̪̂n̶̹̓ô̶̪w̷̧̽ ̶̨̒ẘ̷̫h̸̞̓ǫ̸͐ ̷̖̃ÿ̸̭́o̷̬̅ù̵̳ ̵͇͐a̷̬̒r̶͖̎ë̸͎́,̷͖̔ ̴̊͜S̶͇͛ṫ̴̯e̵̙̿v̴̲͋ę̴͛ṇ̴̈́.̶͙͝ ̶̻́I̵͗͜ ̴̭̚n̷͙̚e̷͓̅e̸̺͝d̵̤̏ ̵̜́y̷̖͐ő̴͚ù̵̧r̵̮͒ ̵͕́h̵̥͒e̵͓̊l̷͇̇p̶̬̕.̷̧̚ ̷̡̏Ï̶̞ẗ̸͈́ ̷͈̂h̴̬̿u̴̘̿r̸̺͊t̵̲̒s̶̫͋.̵̝̀ ̵͎̀I̸̝̓t̶͔́ ̸̨̎h̶̳̕u̵͇̓r̵̗̿t̸̹̉s̶͚̅ ̷͓͛s̴̹̾ó̸̘ ̸̩̈́m̷͇̂u̵̩͝c̶̗̅ḧ̶͔.̷̹͛"

"I heard about what Gneiss did to you. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

There was a slight pause before Yggdrasil spoke again. "M̶̼̿y̸̒ͅ ̸̗͋l̵͔̅u̸̫͗n̴̰͊g̴̪͌s̵͉̽ ̶̺̊h̵̗̃u̴͍̎r̷̩͠t̴̘͝,̶̟͝ ̷̏ͅS̸͔͑t̴̨̊e̴̳͆ṽ̶̤e̷̗͋n̸̯͠.̵̤̅ ̸̭͑I̴͚̍ ̵̣̃c̸̝͌ạ̸̚ñ̶̠'̷̨̿ṯ̸̄ ̴͎̃b̶̲͒ŗ̸̎è̴̥ȧ̶͉t̴͕̕h̶̙̿e̶̺̾.̷̠͑ ̷̩̅P̷̢̚l̷͈͗ẻ̸̤à̴̗s̶͘͜ė̴̢ ̸̢́h̶̹̊e̴̤͂ä̷̩́l̵̢̓ ̵̢͘m̸̤͘ȩ̵͠!̴̨͆ ̷͓̽I̵̳̓ ̷̨̀c̴͍͐à̷̦n̴̖͠'̷͕̈t̷͓͒ ̸̝̽b̶̘̈́è̴̟â̵̻r̷͓̅ ̷͆ͅā̷̫n̴͈͐ŷ̷̭ ̸̺̃m̶̠̄o̴̺̒r̶̩͠ė̵͈ ̸̙̈́ọ̶̅f̴̠͛ ̴̼̾t̶͔̅h̷͍̏í̷̳s̷̙̅ ̷̻̌p̵̢̚ḁ̶͠i̸̮͝n̵͙͆!̵̯̽"

"Alright, that's what I came here to do, but how should I heal you?"

"Y̸̬̔õ̵͎u̵͚̓ ̶̻͌n̷̫͛e̴̮̾ë̷͉́d̶͉͒ ̴̨̉ṫ̶͖ó̷̺ ̴̝̑c̶͕̈́ő̶͖m̵̞̅e̷͕̊ ̷̬͐ĭ̷̢n̴̠̏s̴͖̀i̸̳͆d̶̥͋e̵̻̔ ̷̳̅m̸̜͐e̷̥͆,̴͈̐ ̵̬͝S̴̘͂t̸̮̉ẹ̶̾v̷̛͍e̶̠͝n̵̝͆.̴̚͜.̷͕̈́.̷̯͝"

"Kind of weird that you'd phrase it like that, but okay. Just show me where I need to go and I'll come inside and heal you."

"Ä̴̮ṩ̵ ̶̹̈́y̶͙̒o̷͍̔u̶̗͗ ̵̹̈w̸͝ͅi̴͍͊s̴̨̐h̴̬͝,̵̧̔ ̷͕͘S̵̮͝t̶̻͠ē̵̬v̸̰̅ḙ̷̃n̴̰̎.̴͙̃ ̷̪͝N̴̺͗o̵͎͑w̴̜͗ ̶͙̈ȟ̴̯u̸̯͑r̵̖͆r̵̭̅y̶̤͗.̴̖̌ ̸͔̈́I̵̪̽ ̵̟̀d̶̖̄o̶̱̒n̷͎̈́'̸̠͛t̵̬̽ ̵̯̊ẖ̴̂a̵̻̕v̷̝͒e̴̯͝ ̷͎̃m̵̱̀u̵̦͑ć̷̯h̵̢͑ ̶̟̓t̵̡̅i̶̱̾m̸̯͑e̷͚̓ ̴̡̿l̷͙̓e̴͉͋f̸͙̕t̴̗̅.̴̹͆"

Steven proceeded to climb into Yggdrasil's wound and he soon found himself submerged in what seemed to be amniotic fluid. It looked like it: it was clear, it was thicker than regular water but thinner than regular tree sap, and he could easily breathe in the stuff (then again, being half-Gem, he could just as easily breathe in any other environment just as long as he made sure he could take in enough air once in a while). He could see all around him the souls of all the Gems who'd passed on and chosen to merge with the Tree instead of moving on to the afterlife. They all screamed in pain as the phytoplasmas and the original sickness worked together to weaken the Tree further than before. He could see Yggdrasil's inner walls pulsating as if trying to fight off the rogue organisms making it sick.

"Alright, now can you show me where I need to go?"

In an instant, Yggdrasil did as was told and opened up a portal beneath him. Steven was a bit confused by this at first, but then Yggdrasil proceeded to tell him, "G̶͕̚ò̶̰ ̸̝́i̷̳̿n̶̪͐ ̴̻͐t̴̤͆h̶̝̕è̴̦r̴̺̈́e̴̦̐.̵̢͛ ̷̖͐Ț̴͠h̵̻͋ě̶̩ŕ̶̗e̷̤͒,̶̰͌ ̸̧̿y̷̞͛ȍ̶̰u̷̩͘'̸̠̈́l̶͎͑ļ̵͠ ̶̦̊b̵̻̓e̵̟͝ ̷͚̆a̷̟̔b̷̼̀l̷̗̑ē̵̟ ̴̅ͅẗ̵͎́o̷̯͝ ̶̪͊f̴̳̆i̸̬̍ẍ̶͓́ ̵̯̾m̶͕͋e̸̹͑.̸͚̋"

Once Steven got through, he could see a glowing ball right in the middle of the Tree's entangled roots. It was visibly cracking in every place, some deeper than others, and it shone so brightly that if any other mortal being set their eyes on it, they'd instantly lose their sight. Steven, oddly enough, was able to directly look at it and still keep his vision. Of course, being the son of a woman who'd once absorbed power directly from the pantheon might have had something to do with it, but that wasn't important right now. Right now, he had the Tree of Life and two worlds he'd proudly called home to save.

"Yggdrasil?" Steven called out from within the Tree.

"Y̵̧̎ḛ̸̏s̷͙͆,̷̹̋ ̵̘͆S̷̜̃t̶͙̔e̸̟͝v̸͚̿ȩ̵͐n̶̡̓?̵̧͛" the Tree asked him.

"I just need to ask you something before I do this."

"Ȏ̷̲f̶̳̊ ̷̭͐c̴̦̀ò̷̩u̸̡̓r̸̖̉ś̵͚e̶̠̎,̷̜͝ ̶̘̉Ṡ̴̪ṱ̵͂ê̶͓v̴̲̈́e̵͍̐ṇ̷̌.̷͍̓ ̶̱̓B̷̲͝u̵̜͒t̴͎̾ ̴̱̒m̵̦͛à̷̬k̷̤͗ë̸͇ ̸̗͠i̵͚̿t̵̡̍ ̶̀ͅq̶̹͘u̶̪͘i̷͕͝c̴̣̄k̷͉̈.̸͔́ ̴̨̈́W̵̻͑e̸͔͒'̶̲͑r̶̥͗e̶̜͝ ̵̥̇r̸͍͂ṳ̷̃n̴̙̈́n̴̾ͅì̴͍n̸͎̚g̸̢̔ ̴̠͂o̸͚̊u̷̠̐t̷̘̚ ̵̣͛o̸͎͝f̵̙̃ ̷̞̾t̶͍͐i̶͆͜m̶̰͗e̴͖̅.̴̜͘"

"Do you think it will have been worth it in the end? Once I do this, will it be worth it to live on inside you forever?"

"Ǫ̵̆f̷̦̔ ̴̫͝c̴̝̀o̶̗̕ų̶͆r̵̜̓s̷͙̎e̶͈̅,̸̘̊ ̵̝̔S̶̗̋t̶̩͆è̸̜v̵̬͝ḙ̴͘ñ̵̤.̸̤͑ ̸̼̽E̷̻͗v̶̛̻e̸̛͍r̷̟̄ỳ̷̯ ̷̘͗ọ̵͘n̴̜͐é̶͈ ̶̳́ơ̶̤f̶͈͝ ̶̠̌t̸̯̉ḩ̷͋e̴̘̍ṣ̵̎e̸͇̚ ̴̧͛G̵̞̒e̴̙͋m̴̳͊ś̶͉ ̵̬̔w̶͔͌h̴͈̚ơ̶̜ ̷͉̕c̸͈̍h̸͚̀o̸͆͜s̴̢̅ȅ̷̩ ̴̗͗t̴̳͋ǫ̵̍ ̸͔̓b̶̮̽ë̷̜ ̷̒͜w̶̗̒ḭ̷̿t̵͚͛h̴͙͊ ̶̲̌m̵̹͂ẻ̸̫ ̶̞̓ḑ̷͆į̴͗d̸̜̂ ̷̯̂s̶̫͂o̷͕̿ ̷̢͊b̴͕̉è̸̘c̸̖̀ȁ̵̘u̴̢͝s̵̬̕ê̶̮ ̵͔͋ṭ̷́h̵̪̍ë̷͇ỷ̵̤ ̸̛͇ẗ̵̥h̷̓ͅȯ̸ͅu̸̥͒g̸̡̊h̷̗̔t̸̰̚ ̸̨̊ț̴̌h̵̰͌e̸̤͘y̵͇͆ ̴̿͜ẘ̷͜ĕ̵͙r̵̻̓e̶̺̕ ̶̝̚d̸̟̂ȯ̶͚ǐ̴͔n̶͖͛ǧ̶͍ ̵̲̎t̶͇͘h̶̙͒ë̸̖ ̴̗͂r̴̹̿i̴̻͗ğ̶̢h̴̬̒ṱ̶́ ̷̭̄ṱ̵̌ḥ̸̆į̴̇n̴̢͂g̸̖̀ ̶̧̿ä̶̡ṇ̵̿d̶̘̐ ̵͓̒b̴̡̔ẽ̴̫ç̵̎ȁ̶ͅǘ̶̧s̸̗̉e̵̓͜ ̸͖͐t̷̠̉h̶̫̍è̷͎y̴̽͜ ̵̧͛ḽ̴̍ó̸̞v̵͇̐e̶̞͝ ̸̯͐m̷̼̂ȅ̵̘ ̴͚͊a̸͖̋n̵̺͛ḋ̸͔ ̵̟̀l̵̗̈́ĭ̵͜f̷̛͍e̵̟͑ ̶̧̂i̷̖̐ť̴̫s̴̠̐ḙ̸͝l̸̫̉f̶͚͘.̵̤̈́ ̸͖̽W̷̤͒ȟ̷̯è̸̫ṇ̶̋ ̴̻̌ÿ̴͇́o̵̳͌u̴͂͜'̵̱̏v̷̼̀ě̴̦ ̵͖̇s̴̗̎a̷͙̎c̸͚͂r̵̿͜i̴̠̍f̸̱̊i̶͎̇c̷̫͌ê̵͜d̵̫͒ ̵͔̈́y̵̮͐ŏ̵͜ǔ̵̥r̶͍̎s̵̖̎e̵͎͘l̷͈̄f̸͈̏ ̶̖͆f̷̖̄ǫ̴̚r̴͕͂ ̶̼̂m̶̮̈́y̶͔͆ ̶̤̕s̸̤͌a̸͖̓k̷̡͌e̸͕̐ ̸̧́a̸̢͊ǹ̴̰ḓ̴̉ ̵̫́ḿ̸̝y̵̥̑ ̷͖̍s̸̨͝ā̵͍k̶̰͆e̸̲͂ ̶̖̅a̷̞̍ĺ̸̠ő̶̰ń̴̨ẽ̷̮,̷͑ͅ ̸̪̕t̸͙͒h̶͔̑e̶̞̍n̷̞͛ ̵̟̏i̴͔̽t̶̘͒ ̴̮̀w̶͍͌ị̵̃ḽ̷̑ḷ̴͘ ̴̖̏h̷̢͋a̴̮͂v̸̩̀e̵͚͛ ̴͙͌b̷̙͑e̶̫̔e̵͚͊n̶̫̏ ̶̨̽w̸̖̍o̸̮͗r̴̠̽t̴̩̑ȟ̶͉ ̵͚̕í̷̺ṭ̶̎.̴̥̈́"

Steven took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay. I'm ready to go."

He placed both of his hands on the glowing ball. Almost immediately after, it started absorbing his hands and converting his skin and muscles into energy. He could only groan while the energy then proceeded to gradually convert his arms, his shoulders, his chest, and the rest of his body into itself. Soon, it reached his respiratory system and he lost his voice. Next, his vision faded away and all of his other senses followed. With just his thoughts to keep him company now, he gave in to the feeling of nirvana and let Yggdrasil's energy consume him and assimilate him into itself. Now he was one with the Tree and just another soul among million others.

Now it was Yggdrasil's time to speak. "T̷͇͗ḣ̸̜å̷͓n̴̜̂k̸̥̎ ̶̱͂y̴̱̽o̵͚̿u̶̹͠,̸̹̿ ̶͇̾S̴̤̐t̴̯̕e̶̺͛v̴̙͆e̶̠͛n̷̡͛.̵̰́ ̴͈̒Å̷̹ń̵͍ḋ̷̖ ̵̥̓n̴̯̒ô̵̼ẃ̸͖,̵͆͜ ̸̦̆b̵̺̃ë̴̦́c̸͍̔à̴̗u̷̡̚ś̵͙e̸̢͒ ̴̟̽y̴̹͐ỏ̸͈u̶͍͊ ̵̼͛h̶̻̆a̴̓͜ṿ̵͝é̵̞ ̴̛̰d̶̮̅o̷͈͑n̴͖̊ë̸̺ ̷͍́y̵̨͊ò̷̫u̴̠͑r̷̭͂ ̷̼̃d̴͕͠e̵̠͑e̶̳̿d̵̛̞,̶̼͠ ̴̪̑I̷̦͐ ̸͚͂w̵̢̕ḭ̵̽l̷͊ͅĺ̸̹ ̸͚͛f̵̞́u̴̳̚l̷̤̓f̴̰́í̸̱l̶̈́ͅl̵̝͂ ̴̋͜w̶̺̋h̸̠̃à̶͉t̶͔̊ ̷͎͊y̸̠̓o̷̝͌ú̷̠'̷̱̾d̸̰͑ ̸̮́ḁ̴̀ḽ̶͐ẃ̸̗ä̸̡́ȳ̷̰s̴̱͊ ̵̦̀w̷̼̚a̸̪̋ń̸͙ẗ̸͖e̴̟͒ḓ̴̋ ̴̺͒s̴̹̔ḭ̷̇n̵͕͆c̷̻͊ë̶̹ ̷̰̾y̵̥̐o̵̦͗u̶͚͊ ̴̠͒w̷͒ͅe̸̥͂r̵̛̜ḛ̷͑ ̷̥͝a̶̜͠ ̴̜̊c̴̗͌h̸̜͆i̷̪͗l̸͚̈́ď̷͖.̴̹̏ ̸͚́B̵̛̩o̶̫̚t̸͍̉h̷͓̃ ̸̻̚Ę̶́ā̷̘ȓ̶̗ṭ̵͆h̷̹̕ ̶̹͝a̶̙͆n̷̬̎ḑ̵́ ̶̡̒M̷̤͐i̵̗̍n̵̝̕ë̶̯́r̸̥͠a̴̝̕l̸͓͛i̷̞̕s̷̫̿ ̶͙̌š̸͎h̵͎̊ḁ̷̽ḽ̶̽l̸̙͝ ̶̳̾ǹ̸̖o̵͖̾ẇ̸̘ ̶̝̆l̵͖͑i̷͇͘v̸̦̀e̶̎ͅ ̵̡͘ṱ̴̾ǒ̷̬g̴̼̈́e̷̛̦t̵̲̉h̷͙̽e̴̦̓ȓ̸͖ ̶̻̀a̸̼̐s̴͈̓ ̷̟̈́o̵̘̓n̵̖̅e̴̟͋.̵̫̾.̶̼̈́.̷̟̈ ̵͇̒i̵̯͑n̷̲̄ ̵̰̽h̵͈͋á̸̟r̵̡̊m̸̲̈́ö̷̺n̵̩͑ÿ̴̤.̶̥̄.̸̛̼.̸̛͎"


	13. Chapter 13

Tanzanite woke up to find that Capri was now back on Earth with her. What a relief it was, but then she noticed that there were now hundreds of Gems around her where there weren't before. Even more surprisingly, now Garnet and Pearl were back on Earth!

"G-Garnet!" Tanzanite exclaimed. "P-Pearl! You came back, but how?"

"I-I don't know," Pearl answered her. "One minute, we were in our palace mourning over Steven and the next, we just came back here, where everything started." She turned to face Green Topaz. "Uncle, how did this happen?"

All Green could do was shrug his shoulders at this. "I don't know." He turned to look at his brother Blue. "Blue?"

"I've got nothing," Blue just said. "But whatever it was, it managed to alter reality in such a way that now Earth and Mineralis exist in one dimension."

"I can tell you what happened," said a deep, booming voice.

Everyone turned around to see Rhyncho standing right in front of them.

"Rhyncho?" Diamond asked aloud. "What are you doing here and what happened?"

"Well, I can only assume that when Steven sacrificed himself to save Yggdrasil, he allowed the Tree to grant him the one wish he'd always wanted to happen ever since he was a boy," Rhyncho explained concisely.

"What was the wish?"

"That wish was to see Earth and Mineralis live together in perfect harmony. However, Yggdrasil decided to take that wish one step further and have them both co-exist within the same plane of existence, within the same dimension."

"You're kidding," Tanzanite said. "Earth and Mineralis? Together in one place?"

Rhyncho just nodded his head.

"Wait, so does that mean...?" Pearl started to ask.

Aquamarine cut her off. "Yep, the whole gang's back together again!"

"It sure is, kiddo," Jade agreed. "I just wish Steven could be here to see this."

"Yeah, but if Steven hadn't died to save Yggdrasil, this wouldn't even be happening."

"True, true." Jade then picked her friend up and embraced her tightly. "Hey, guys! What do you say we all go to the rec center to celebrate?"

"Sounds good to me!" Aquamarine exclaimed.

"Me too," Garnet joined in.

* * *

Down at the rec center, the Crystal Gems and friends were talking amongst themselves about what'd they been through within the last few days, Capri and Rhyncho especially. With them were Siouxsie Barriga-Miller, her wife April, her half-sister Misty, Phaedra and her brother Christian, their half-sister Octavia and her wife Jenny, Pearl's sister Larimar, Hitomi and the children, the other guardians of Yggdrasil, and last but not least Rhodochrosite.

"You know, as much as I miss Steven already, I'm glad he sacrificed himself to save the tree," Hitomi said. "I think it's actually thriving a lot better now than before it even got sick."

"I couldn't agree more," Rhodochrosite conceded. "I mean, it's actually the healthiest it's been in centuries,  _centuries_! In fact, I have a good feeling it won't be sick for a long time and all thanks to Steven."

"So… what do we do now?" Capri couldn't help but ask. "Gneiss is in custody, Dad's dead, Earth and Mineralis are now one, and the tree's pretty much back to normal. How do you think humans and Gems will figure out how to co-exist again?"

"Well, if they could get along before, they could certainly get along now," Rhodochrosite said. "Most of the time anyway. I don't doubt that we'll still have to deal with Gems like Zoisite who want to exterminate the human race or humans who are determined to kill other life-forms out of greed, but I'm sure that if we can slowly start working together, then with time, we can learn to fix each other and abolish society's ills."

While Rhodochrosite went on his speech about unity and fixing society as he knew it, Pearl listened to her sister talk about how much she loved her new boyfriend.

"So his name's Galaxite and he's the sweetest Gem in the world," Larimar was saying. "He opens doors for me, he carries me over puddles, he brings me flowers, he's the ultimate gentleman."

"I see…" Pearl replied. "When do you plan to propose to him?"

"Hopefully, very soon. He told me that ever since he was a kid, he's wanted to be married at the Chalcopyrite Palace. After that, he wants to be the new Chancellor."

"Really? Well, when Garnet and I see him, we'll tell him that we might consider putting him on the election ballot. He knows that chancellors are elected to term just like queens, right?"

"Yes. He's actually been studying extensively to make sure he doesn't abuse his powers. After what happened with Aunt Xenotime's mom, your ex-husband, and that other Chancellor I don't remember the name of, I don't really blame him."

"Me neither."

All of a sudden, Pearl tilted her head to the right and saw the apparitions of Rose, Amethyst, Steven and Greg. They smiled at her, prompting many fond memories to come flooding back, and she smiled back serenely. The apparitions disappeared soon after, leaving Pearl alone with her own thoughts. Larimar caught a glimpse of Pearl looking away and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Larimar asked out of confusion.

"Oh, nothing," Pearl replied. "I was just thinking about something."

"Oh, okay."

Still, Pearl looked on, hoping that someday she would have a chance to reunite with them in the afterlife. Everything they'd done had been for the better and would hopefully resonate for generations and generations to come, and Pearl was more than glad to have been there right alongside them and the other Crystal Gems.


End file.
